Stephen
If you want to try a mix of traditional heavy metal, progressive flavor, lightning-fast guitar picking, soaring vocals, power metal style drumming, and melodic rock big chorus, then I won't recommend anything but "Witch Dance". The sophomore release of the highly skilled Swedish quartet, Last Tribe, is pretty much pictured the blend perfectly, from the high-register skyrocket singing and groundcrasher drumming, to the bombastic bass slapping and electrifying tense riffage. Among the four men behind the band, probably only Magnus Karlsson is the most famous musician, but the rest are also veteran players and executed their role flawlessly.
With Lowgren and Salazar filling in the spot to replace the departing Wallmark and Andersson, "Witch Dance" marked a boosted performance in songwriting and rhythm section department compared to their debut, "The Ritual", making this album simply their undefeatable champion. Songs like the title track or "Bring Out The Brave" opened the album with a monstrous arrangement and killer chorus, but when "Wash Your Sins Away" rolled in, you will be paralyzed with a thick combination of sparkling melodic metal and progressive tempo, and in my opinion, you can hear Karlsson's best solo delivery on this track. The other powerful tracks to watch are the uptempo "Man of Peace" with delirious chorus and crushing shred and the orgasmic closer of "Dreamer" with a superbly-constructed composition.
The production level is very good and to underline a rewarding experience on listening to the magnificent performance of the band playing a set of great tunes, "Witch Dance" is worth your hard-earned penny and probably one of the ultimate releases of 2002.