Recently I’ve encountered – and familiarized myself a little – with this nice atmospheric black metal project from Hungary by the name of WitcheR. Well, I pretty much like anything from atmospheric and symphonic black metal genre, so when I’ve ordered some stuff from Akné Productions (by the way, you can read the interview with its owner, Wayne, here), I’ve got myself a Cdr re-release of their 2011 demo Boszorkánytánc as well..and that’s how I’ve got to know this project.
Well, this is their 2010 debut demo and it’s exactly the way I like it. It only has 3 tracks (intro + 2 songs), with total play time of 20:25, but if you’re into this genre, you’re gonna do some replays. Maybe more than a few.
After the keyboard-based “Intro” we’re getting to “Az Utsolsó Percben“ and instantly this is a hit with me. Why? Well, the tune is very similar to one popular song from a soundtrack to a Slovak cult movie “Fontána pre Zuzanu“ („A Fountain for Susan“). So the love is here, there should be no doubt about it.
I like the guitar riff here, it also sounds familiar, it’s simple, but melodic and catchy. The important aspect is – it works well. The vocals are little of the small-cave variety, I’d say, however, although I’d guess guys are fans of Burzum, nothing like Varg’s psychotic screams of his early works here. Nope, nice rasp black metal vocals. 9:24 and it’s just gone like this…yes.
The second song is even longer (9:40), and it’s named “Mindentől Megfosztva”. Again, keyboards play the main role here, and after about 1:30 of the instrumental build-up, we’re getting into the core of the song. And it’s just as beautiful as the first one, probably even more. That passage from about 3:53 to 5:30 is as it has been designed for an astral journey. Certainly a highlight of this little debut. And I can’t forget to commend WitcheR for keeping their songs interesting with changes in tempo and melodies.
Now, the beauty of such music is in its timelessness. As mentioned earlier, it’s from 2010, but it’s as fresh as from today. And the final consideration is pretty simple – as with many things, you either like it or not, but for me, it’s a definite Yes. After a hard day’s work I want to listen to WitcheR.
This demo is – unfortunately – sold out, but you can listen to the songs on Youtube:
Intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7q621yqt2o
Az utolsó Percben: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6DjLJDS5_Q
Mindentől Megfosztva: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmA7xch1ayo
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