Witch Spells

Alongside further Stormspell Records gems, such as Emerald Rage's Heathen King and Timeless Haunt's Dark For Life, comes Ecuadorian trad metal newcomer Blade's Edge and its freshly invigorating, as well as powerfully melodic, Witch Spells EP, which, aside from trite 1980s style power ballad, features a host of wanton air-guitar attack instigations I fail to desist from, time and time again. Never mind that groovy Elvira depicting cover art; lone every-man Sage Savage fooled me into thinking this solo excursion was in fact a twin-axed quartet.

Right from the start, opener/longest track "Witch Spells" (with its full mooned, eerie howling/switchblade sound effect intro) and spiritual successor "Hated" exude greasy and sleazy, Fortress-meets-Sweet Danger type of "mean streets" retro heavy metal vibe, whilst Sage's pinguid, tempest blown upper-range vocals give him cool impression of being a felonious fugitive running from the law. The rapidly rotating, helicopter shuffle of former's doubly backed chorus arrives in wicked contrast to bluesy/neoclassical roar of a solo section, itself simple sneak-preview of what's to follow; namely, twenty additional minutes of mildly glam-y, idiosyncratically optimistic, "living on the edge" rock n' roll (heightened manifold times, when one considers EP's sheer volume of fast, fist-pumping guitar chops, rough, stoically balanced bass and boxed-in mid-tempo sticks play).

The above mentioned instance of lachrymal turgidity ensues with iffy, one-off indulgence "Keep On Tonight". The less said the better, but for want of an auspicious example, think of latter-day Hitten on Ambient, or perhaps lesser-known (yet redundantly shown) Cobra Spell, they of inescapably cloying and sentimental, childhood era nostalgia. Truly, had Witch Spells omitted such a blatant shift in momentum, would likely hold it in even greater esteem.

That's not saying I fail to admire Sir Savage's musical prowess and commitment in any way, as the following triptych of tracks, between epic, lead breaking "Take Away Your Demons", "Blade's Edge" proper and kick-ass, Spanish sung finale "Un Nuevo Ser" (A New Being), picks up the slack, thus blazing an unstoppable trail along EP's close to half-hour run time - a rather extensive foray one or two cuts away from potential full-length (yet, sadly, not quite cult) status. At any rate, most of Blade's Edge's Witch Spells EP makes for an incredibly fun listen, despite Sage Savage's unintelligible runaway ramblings.