Out of the Ashes into the Fire

A further, long-standing veteran heavy metal act recently risen to the fore, alongside Portland, Oregon's Glacier and fellow Swedes Neptune, is Linköping, Östergötland's Axewitch, which, for first time since its 1985 Hooked On High Heels flip flop, has turned around with a decidedly much more "metal" in essence fourth full-length release (at last month's end, on both CD and vinyl, under Germany's alloyed and loved Pure Steel Records) accurately titled Out of the Ashes Into the Fire. Consisting of twelve festively rocking and ever-rousing tracks, the final two entail proud, lurid and loud reprisal of 1982 demo and namesake, long relegated to crumbling, wasteland temple of NWOBHM decay...

Until then, however, a fist-pounding array of versatile originals compels numerous returns. The smashing opener, "The Pusher", is far from simple, modern-day antithesis to Steppenwolf's Easy Rider staple from 1969. In fact, it begins in such a startling and hard-driven, massively replay-able fashion, introductory lines (as well as scalping solo) such as these beg tantamount re-transcription:

"Come on boy you gotta taste it grab a bite of the good life
Now ain't it grand, the serpent said
You're not addicted just for trying don’t be lame just this one time
Cum on get that buzz in your head

Carpe fuckin' diem, seize the day
Shoving that poisonous shit straight up your veins

He's the pusher, alias the serpent of hell
He's the pusher, selling death to kids with a smile on his face"

Vestigial soupcons of twenty-first century, latter-day Quartz, Stryper and Tokyo Blade abound, in terms of bottom-heavy production and twin guitar duo's swampy, distorted crunch, while the sleazily enunciated mid-tempo vocals often hint of Tank, or even Sacred Leather, for want of a contemporary example. Where the riffs range from fast and honky-like ("The Pusher", "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie") and alternatively slow-paced and languid (the Ozzy-ish "In Pitch Black Darkness", "Dues To Pay"), leads are invariable highlights amidst it all.

Catchy refrains abound, with front man Anders Wallentoft's ridiculously nasal and smug drawling dominating, alpha-style, "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie" - don't you rattle the cage, now! (Sorry, that line is too infectious.) Frequent employ of the snare, compounded by thickly rotund, pulsing bass, gives the songs a definitive, fleshy countenance; in other words, the battery merrily plonks its way around like an army of club wielding, cherubic elves. The lighter, highly Thin Lizzy-ish "Boogie of Death" - almost a bonus track, in feel, to Irishmen's 1976 Jailbreak - possesses such a jangly, happy-go-lucky swing, it's a challenge to resist its ambivalent charms. Again, guitar solos are juicy and up-front, meaning the axe...warlocks richly take their time, insofar as phrasing and delivery go. Cloven Hoof and Riot fans should also get their rocks and socks off, notably on the powerfully immersive and progressive "Losing You" or scratchy and scathingly shuffling, staccato stagger of "Going Down", additional chopped broomstick fodder, courtesy of our late-blooming, Baltic troubadours.

You might inquire as to whether or not close to a full hour run time risks crawling drag or stagnation, but I'm glad to assure doubters Out of The Ashes Into The Fire (of which title's second part evokes Jon Krakauer novel) manages to succeed by mixing up tempos, moods and rhythmic formulas, in manifold instances. No one track is similar to an other; nor is the album front or back-loaded, as its most fervent cuts are judiciously spread apart, thus keeping listeners' interest in check. Well beyond forty minutes are we roguishly cruising to "The Healer", "Lie To Me" and "Violator", up until smirking contentedly as aforementioned throwbacks "Nightmare" and "Axewitch" bemuse the crap out of us due to their frantic, wonky verses and eclectic, cow-bell infused instrumentation. Suffice it to say, Axewitch's latest is right on the money this time around.