Antichrist Warfare

Uninspired is no synonym for bad, but it describes music which is rather bad than good, right? Sad but true, this is the word that comes immediately to my mind as the first Witching Hour tones sound. The rumbling, pretty ill-defined production does not make things better. This caricature of a snare drum sound gives their material an almost amateurish aura. Well, this is not fair, because – as mentioned before – uninspired is something different than bad. Nevertheless, the mediocrity of their two own compositions shimmers through every note they play. The vocalist has absolutely no charisma, the fast parts deliver only a small degree of dynamic and some details are a complete flop, for example the miserable, powerless solo at the end of “Awakening of These”. It sounds as if the guitarist played in a full pool under water during the recording. No nice experience.

But Witching Hour have another ace up their sleeve. It is almost an ace of spades. They cover “Iron Fist”. First bad news: this is the best song of their contribution and whenever the song of another band is the best on an album, there is something wrong. Second bad news: without Lemmy’s voice (R.I.P.), you do not get an iron fist, but at best an iron toe. So sorry guys, neither songs nor sound convince… but they are still better than “Polish September Annihilation”, the first track from Division Speed. Now the sound has finally arrived at the amateur level. Once again, the snare (now “shining” with a cardboard sound) delivers the worst detail, but that’s not the only problem here. “Snowstorm over Narvik” shows impressively that guitars – recorded much too quietly – can vanish into thin air in a matter of seconds as soon as the expressionless screams of the lead singer sets in. His voice is, of course, mixed overloud.

It’s sad: two German bands play typical Teutonic metal at the interface of black, thrash and speed. They offer six tracks and not a single one you want to hear more than once. Once again, this split, a pretty cool designed 10”, is no total disaster. But when it comes to this kind of music, I think of Cruel Force, Eurynomos or Ketzer (the debut). These formations (and many more) blow away this split and they do not even have to take a deep breath for it. 38% for Witching Hour, 32% for Division Speed. I am sorry, but a higher rating would not be adequate.