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SEVEN WITCHES ‘Amped’ Regain Records (2005)
Even though I was not particularly excited by Jack Frost's participation in the latest The Bronx Casket CO album, I knew that my main focus for this year should be on the new Seven Witches release "Amped", which I awaited with great anticipation. This heavy metal outfit was suggested to me by a very good friend (hail, Loukas!), who was kind enough to get me a copy of the "Passage to the Other Side" album, at the time when it was released. Frost's brilliant guitar work and James Rivera's (Distant Thunder, ex-Helstar) amazing vocals, both of which were the dominant elements in that release, made a huge impression on me, and were enough to convince me that this is a band was worth checking out.
Well, people who have followed this band's career since the days of the "Second War in Heaven" release (1999), would not be surprised to find out that the only surviving member from that line up is Mr.Frost himself, and, more importantly, that the band's musical direction in "Amped" is slightly different from the straight forward Heavy/Power metal tunes of the band's past releases. So, who is the guy which was chosen to handle the vocal duties this time round, and how on earth would he ever manage to top a vocalist like Rivera?
Seven Witches’ new vocalist is Alan Tecchio of both Hades and Watchtower fame, and his contribution to the new album is quite significant. His quite characteristic vocals gave the majority of these nine new compositions a progressive feel, which was also reinforced by Jack's slightly more technical guitar riffs. As a consequence, it will probably take a few spins before you start appreciating what's on offer, and that is a quite varied album. "West Nile" bares the influence of Mercyful Fate's music, whereas both "GP Fix" and "Fame Gets You Off" are the fastest songs of the album and filled with some amazing guitar solos that makes them stand out easily. Finally, there is a very interesting cover of Billy Idol's "Flesh for Fantasy" which is guaranteed to cause a variety of reactions.
I have to admit that I was quite surprised by "Amped" to the point where I haven't really decided how much I like it, but what is important here is that I have already established that this is an album that deserves to be part of my CD collection. Jack Frost is in constant search of the right formula, and this release is another result of his attempt to achieve that goal. Maybe sometimes you really need to appreciate the trip more than the final destination.
***½
Review by John Stefanis
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