Album review by Milwaukee Tom “The Witch of the North” will be released on May 28 2021 via Nuclear Blast
Well it’s that time again, time for a new Burning Witches album. “The Witch of the North” is the 4th full-length album by the band from Switzerland. And, this is the 1st album new Guitarist Larissa Ernst plays on. She is joined by Founder and fellow Guitarist Romana Kalkuhl, Bassist Jeanine Grob, Drummer Lala Frischknecht, and Laura Guldemond on Lead Vocals.
The album has a total of 13 Tracks, with 3 of them being short, “Intro” styles Pieces. Depending on what version you have, they do a Cover version of Savatage’s “Hall of the Mountain King.” But it isn’t clear at this pre-release time exactly what version that Cover Track will be on. But they do a very good version of it.
Most of the Tracks on “The Witch of the North” are mid to up tempo songs. This is their most aggressive album and very well may be Burning Witches’ best lineup of musicians. They are all excellent players, and Laura does a great job on vocals that fits this band just right. With Tracks like ‘The Circle of Five,” “Nine Worlds,” “Lady of the Woods,” and the Title Track, you can hear the band’s natural progression… mixing the straight ahead Metal sound with some modern stylistic elements to their music. It’s a great combination, and suits them well. “The Witch of the North” is not a Concept Album, but it feels like there is almost a common thread or theme throughout the album. This indeed is a Soundtrack to this Witches Coven!
This is a very good album, and they have made great progress as a band. It’s fun seeing a younger band progress through their career to create great music. Burning Witches does just that with this album, “The Witch of the North.” Great artwork, themed lyrics, their best sounding album to date and some pretty cool Tracks. Highly recommended.
8 out of 10 Rating.
Track listing
Here’s the album’s tracklist:
01. Winter’s Wrath
02. The Witch Of the North
03. Tainted Ritual
04. We Stand As One
05. Flight Of The Valkyries
06. The Circle Of Five
07. Lady Of The Woods
08. Thrall
09. Omen
10. Nine Worlds
11. For Eternity
12. Dragon’s Dream
13. Eternal Frost
The cover was created by Chilean artist Claudio Bergamín (i.a. JUDAS PRIEST’s Firepower and BATTLE BEAST) and it sets the mood for the enthralling journey through enchanted forests and across snow-capped mountain tops that is: The Witch Of The North.
Burning Witches & Artillery Interview w/ Laura Guldemond & Michael Bastholm Dahl