Hexenhammer

Burning Witches is an all-female Swiss heavy metal band and Hexenhammer is their second album. Now signed to the Nuclear Blast label, the production levels of this release are an improvement over their debut, featuring more clarity and less of a thick bass presence, though the bass is still present in the mix. The guitars retain a tone that's suitably heavy yet warm, like the sound you would expect out of a tube amp and an MXR distortion pedal. The band is clearly aiming for a retro-sound for a retro-trend, and this includes the composition structures as well. Musically there's no real surprises to offset the conviction towards traditional heavy metal. For the most part, the guitar riffs are fairly straightforward and often simplistic, but occasionally veer from ubiquitous power chords to more adventurous progressions such as some dissonant melodies found on tracks like "Lords of War". The guitar solos are not going to drop the jaws of listeners but are performed well enough and service the needs of these songs, which is to give the listener some respite from Seraina Telli's vocals.

The main source of frustration I had concerning Burning Witches self-titled debut was the tendency for multiple overdubbing of the vocals, often at different octaves all at once. This questionable decision wasn't used merely to prop up a chorus or utilized for a particularly catchy line, as it seemed as if many of those songs were saddled with this vocal delivery through their entire duration. The lyrics sounded like they were being sung by a choir of witches, harpies and seagulls. For Hexenhammer, this tactic is thankfully reduced, although still fairly present as the opening speed metal offering "Executed" can attest. With less overdubbing, the focus is stronger on Seraina's enthusiastic and frequently histrionic witch-like delivery. Her vocals are strong with a healthy vibrato wail, although she possesses a penchant for reaching almost self-parody levels concerning a chest-beating heavy metal delivery. I would not be shocked if on stage she sang "Open Your Mind" entirely at a menacing crouch and a tiger-claw stance.

With mid-tempo numbers dominating Hexenhammer, maybe more focus on elaborate riffs would benefit Burning Witches in the future, as the main riff initiating "Dead Ender" reads like something a glaze-eyed roadie would casually chug-out during a quick sound-check. Still, I think the band's hearts are in the right place. For instance, the ballad "Don‘t Cry My Tears", despite the soft and clean guitarwork, lets you know right away that a metal band is performing it simply because drummer Lala Frischknecht doesn't bother with nuance, jazz-like techniques or anything resembling swing regardless of the waltz-like lilt. She keeps things mechanical and simple, coming across as if she's striking the snare drum as hard as she possibly can. It's an endearing trait and true to the nature of so many metal ballads from their forebears. My version of this release ends with the "Holy Diver" cover, which is decidedly more faithful to the original than Killswitch Engage's notorious bro-take on the song. It's fine but fails to captivate my senses like their version of Judas Priest's "Jawbreaker" did on their debut. The pessimist in me feels like Nuclear Blast had a hand in this addition since even a slightly a less ubiquitous Dio number like "Stand Up and Shout" would have been more engaging and less pandering, but I could be wrong and that they just really wanted to do that damn song out of all of Dio's numerous works. While the cover song of choice isn't a step up from the debut, everything else is, and hopefully the group endures, adding a bit more complexity to their rhythms to avoid being deemed a metallic backdrop for Seraina's commanding lunatic ravings towards newts pleading for their continued eyesight.