Calling upon the accursed spirits of the dead and channeling their undying possession anew Fulda, Germany-borne thrash metal quintet WITCHBURNER return with vengeance in skull on this classics-trained eighth full-length album. No less diabolic in their whipping command of mid-to-late 80’s Teutonic speed built thrash ‘Black Raging Flames‘ finds the band intact, refined even, but not at all neutered of their attack after a thirteen year gap between releases. Additionally braced by speed metallic turns and even more distinct vocal inflections their work here is of course familiar in its tradition but delivered by the same violent, all-consuming flame that’d sparked them into action ages ago.

Witchburner formed circa 1992 by way of drummer/vocalist Tankred Best and guitarist/bassist Florian Schmidt both of whom were in their early teens at the time, driven toward an act of 80’s thrash obsession which continues in spirit to this day. It took them a couple years to put together a two song demo tape, which I believe is available as part of a more recent compilation, but it wasn’t really a proper band ’til they’d expanded to a quartet and went to work on their self-titled debut (‘Witchburner‘, 1996). That first album stands out in their discography with its odd tangents, almost death/thrash aggression and mid-pace though you can hear their love for mid-80’s Kreator, Destruction and maybe Protector among others as they’d carried on. By the end of the 90’s the two founding members had moved on and second guitarist Simon Seegel (Cadaveric Poison), who’d joined on the first album, would become the long-standing spine of their operation.

Digging through Witchburner‘s discography yields a concise, rawly presented and entirely consistent approach to witching metal. Though their peers, or even past heroes, diverted to groove metal, neo-thrash or melodeath-thrash over time these folks held true to a ruthlessly aggressive mid-to-late 80’s thrash metal sound. Though their gig came back into “style” here and there, and later on they’d get called “black/thrash” by a few, the band’s releases never bent far from impetus despite several lineup changes; The first couple of albums have a distinct sound but the 2001-2007 era ending with ‘Blood of Witches‘ (2007) was arguably a most defining for the band, carrying a great Sodom-esque trample through each. Beyond that point their 2013 album ‘Bloodthirsty Eyes‘ would be the last we’d hear from the band since, going out on a dark note and with a new vocalist who returns for ‘Black Raging Flames‘.

With a cleaner, full-chested shout from vocalist Pino Hecker (Nocturnal, Terroraze) up front and a mix of circa ’85 speed metal cum thrash riffcraft providing solid street level backing for gang-shouts and such ‘Black Raging Flames‘ is one of the more pure, ‘old school’ informed examples of Teutonic thrash Witchburner‘ve produced. This means any accusations of black/thrash style are pretty much bunk outright and an early days hardcore punk inflected charge adds to the greater authenticity of the full listen. It’ll all hit you on the rally through opener “Richtschwert” and follow-up “Pestilent Disciple” where you can tell the decade-plus gap between records has the band’s work more neatly, or, contiguously writ than it might’ve been otherwise and the urgency at a ten. Otherwise the classics era tropes are also immediately there as these folks continue to speak the language of die-hard sinister thrash metal unbothered by futurity.

The momentum never lets up as Witchburner slash through ‘Black Raging Flames‘ wherein their riffcraft is familiar but energetic in its pulse and no less punched up aggression. Not exactly as ‘heavy metal’ as the better parts of say, Violent Force, but the ranting diction applied to songs like “Siege of Terror” and title track “Black Raging Flames” coheres the album’s ~35 minute run into a different force than before in some respects. This sets the album’s style somewhere in between the aforementioned circa ’85 arena of German thrash/speed (a la Vectom‘s debut which they’ve tributed with a balls-out cover of “Too Fast For Hell” here) but also heavier, similarly straightforward records like ‘Chemical Invasion‘ could be called upon for general reference but these are ancient rusted-out albums which make pieces like “Throne” sound extreme in direct comparison. The general spirit of a certain era is yet alight here as they rip through these ten songs.

As suggested prior Witchburner have always kept their heads down, focused on their ancient aggression and this means one year their evil thrash metal lane might be well-received and the next totally overlooked… but ‘old school’ thrash/speed metal die-hards will always be up for more. In this case they’ve leaned into a mix of both 80’s specific traits and diction alongside some of the sonic standards and aggression made more palatable in the post-millennium. As a result ‘Black Raging Flames‘ is certainly not a neo-thrash album but one that fans who’d onboarded in the early 2000’s (or black-thrashers in the 2010’s) will understand and appreciate for its well-tended fundaments. It is a killer way to return after so long and an album which flows brilliantly, sticks to its base instincts and entertains without songs sans gimmickry. A moderately high recommendation.

https://www.diabolicmightrecords.com

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