Swiss band Burning Witches have built quite a reputation in Europe. This all female metal band formed in 2015 have released a couple of albums that received positive press and they promise even better things on their next album due early next year. To tease us all, they have a new single out called ‘Wings Of Steel’, the first with new vocalist Laura, and have backed it up with three live tracks from their 2019 set at the prestigious Wacken Festival.
The studio track is straight out of the Judas Priest (Painkiller era) school of metal and is all you need for melodic metal. Laura is a boon for the band and actually sounds a little like Rob Halford during the multi tracked screams. The twin guitars also meet expectations in the riffs and solos, and it all comes together as a quality addition to the genre. The live tracks start with an over long Sabbath style build up (and the crowd whistles upset my dogs!) but once it gets going ‘Executed’ shows they are formidable live too and deliver a passionate and effective chunk of metal. ‘Open Your Mind’ has a twin guitar intro that leads to more heavy riffing with a great chorus and, after the bridge, a cracking solo. ‘Hexenhammer’ the title track of the last album is seven minutes of heavy riffs, solos and vocals… their live show must be worth catching on this evidence.
The whole thing sets the stall for what should be a very good album in the near future. They outdo many bands in this crowded metal genre and deserve more exposure. If you like power metal or melodic metal or even heavy rock, they’re more than worth seeking out.
The Wings Of Steel EP will be out on December 6, 2019 via Nuclear Blast.
