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Arkham Witch is an Anglo-Maltese band who has of late been quite active on the touring front. Having witnessed the band on one particular date, I had wondered if their recordings would reflect the fun-loving mayhem of their performances. Well, I was about to find out…..
Musically “Hammerstorm” is a throwback to the NWOBHM and has a particular inclination for Doom Metal. So you’ve got downtuned guitars, verse/chorus/verse/chorus songwriting, energetic music and lyrics speaking of denim, leather and epic battle fantasies. Heard this all before, right? Yes, in fact the material is hardly groundbreaking and besides the sound does need some time to get used to.
But as old sods like myself will agree, innovation is not always the name of the game. More to the point, Arkham Witch clearly have a knack of writing great songs, songs full of catchy riffs and anthemic tunes. I also liked the singing style of Simon Iff? which fits in neatly with the music.
The title-track is the band’s eulogy to the Thor mythos as seen through the eyes of Marvel comics. Very topical. Marginally short of 12 minutes, the track is as epic as it gets with Arkham Witch. Concluding the hard-copy EP is ‘Thunder On The Tundra’, a cover version of…..yes, who else but…..1980s cult Metal frontman Thor. Incidentally this cover neatly illustrates the type of Metalhead most likely to appreciate this EP – someone who was already around when Metal was taking its first steps and who can recognise Metal played with a genuine love for the music and its inherent theatric imagery.
So yes, “Hammerstorm” does possess the in-your-face, take-it-or-leave-it attitude of Arkham Witch’s live performances. Worth checking out!
Click the following link to listen to ‘Thunder On The Tundra’ | ||||||||||||||||||
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