WILD WITCH - BRAZIL

WILD WITCH - THE OFFERING - ARTHORIUM  
Another traditional heavy metal offering from Arthtorium Records and Brazil. Wild Witch started as a quartet but Felipe "Rippervert" added vocal duty to his bass playing after the band's debut EP. Heavy Metal Inferno is the title of the opener and it is not too difficult to guess the style, especially for a band called Wild Witch whose album cover art features a skull, a candle and a young woman. The aforementioned EP, 2012's Burning Chains, featured Tokyo Blade covers giving one insight into the band. Iron Maiden and Running Wild are an influence, there is something Loudness sounding here too but this is not a guitar solo filled album a la the Japanese guys. It is as if The Offering belongs to another era. There is little to no pretension to be anything 'modern'. The vocals are basic too, neither too high pitched nor low. No speed metal or doomy stuff here just hard rock/heavy metal. The trio wears the leather, jeans, patches and bullets outfits that reinforce the old school music being heard. The track titles like From The Purgatory, Blades Of Pain, Lightning On The Road all carry the tradition in title and in music as well. The occasional screamed chorus - in Blades Of Pain for example - move the band a bit into the late '80s but that's as far as Wild Witch go. Exiles in Hell offers the most and best variation and Lightning On The Road the fastest sections. These two close the album better than the six songs before them. – Anna Tergel