There’s a New Witchery Album on the Way

Anyone of my generation who was really into thrash metal loves Witchery, the blackened-thrash band born out of the Swedish death metal scene in the late ’90s. I myself am a huge fan of the band. That said, Witchery had two distinct eras. The first was between 1998’s Restless and Dead and 2001’s Symphony For The Devil, the latter of which you can listen to below. If you haven’t, you should–I’d rank it among the top 20 thrash albums of all time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgqsN9WGD8g

Witchery’s second era started with 2006’s Don’t Fear The Reaper, a plodding chore of a record that never picked up the pace and abandoned the fun of their previous releases. They followed that up with 2010’s Witchkrieg, with former Marduk frontman Legion taking over the vocal duties. Sadly, though that record has some killer tracks on it, the guitar and vocal sounds are disappointingly typical, and it never blew up the way it could have.

Why am I rehashing this band’s career? Because Witchery have just announced a new album, titled In His Infernal Majesty’s Service, which would be cooler if it were titled In His Infernal Majesty’s SECRET Service but whatever. The band also has a new lead singer, Angus Norder, whose work with Nekrokraft (listen below, that band slays) seems to make him a good fit for the band.

Will this record rule? I’m on the fence. At this point, I worry that, like The Crown, Witchery have lost their old-school roots, and its members are a little too involved in Metal In General to get that weird, witchy, jangling sound that made their early stuff so fucking good. But hey, maybe I’m wrong and this will be a big return to form for them.

More once we hear some material. For now, enjoy some Nekrokraft below and cross your fingers that this new Witchery joint slays.