UMUR
"Don't Fear the Reaper" is the 4th full-length studio album by Swedish heavy metal act Witchery. The album was released through Century Media Records in March 2006. It´s the successor to "Symphony for the Devil" from 2001. The lineup who recorded "Symphony for the Devil (2001)" is intact. Sharlee D'Angelo (bass), Patrik Jensen (rhythm guitars), Richard Corpse (lead guitars), Martin Axenrot (drums), and Toxine (vocals).
Stylistically the material on the album continue the band´s trademark blackened heavy metal/speed metal style and there are very few surprises in that department. If you´re familiar with the preceding releases and enjoy them, chances are good you´ll enjoy this one too. The music is a combination of traditional heavy metal, speed metal, thrash metal, black metal, and an occasional touch of death metal ("Crossfixation" is for example death metal oriented). The black metal element is mostly due to Toxine´s raw and raspy vocal style, because the instrumental part of the music is predominantly traditional heavy/speed metal. An act like Mercyful Fate often comes to mind. The dark and occult nature of the lyrics and the general imagery surrounding Witchery also point in that direction.
The material on the 13 track, 45:58 minutes long album are well written, powerful, and effective. The album features three instrumentals, where especially "The Wait of the Pyramids" is worth a mention, but tracks like "Stigmatized", "Crossfixation", "Cannon Fodder", and especially "Ashes" (because of the dominant use of keyboards) also stand out on an otherwise stylistically consistent release.
"Don't Fear the Reaper" is well produced too, featuring a powerful, raw, and detailed production, which brings out the best in the material. The high level musicianship is another asset, and paired with the high quality songwriting (which often has a great memorable anthemic quality to it), "Don't Fear the Reaper" is another great release by Witchery. There´s bite and conviction behind the delivery and just the right amount of aggression mixed with intriguing ideas. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.
