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STORMWITCH ‘Witchcraft’ (Nuclear Blast) (2004)
The year is 1984. Heavy Metal bands are enjoying moments of glory throughout the world, and Germany could not have been an exception to the rule. Five years after the release of the first Accept album, and while Running Wild and Rage were arranging their first ever-European tours, Andy Muck’s (vocals) Stormwitch had just released their debut album called "Walpurgis Night".
The following four years were probably the most productive for the band. They managed to release four studio releases ("Tales of Terror", "Stronger Than Heaven", "The Beauty and the Beast" & "Eye of the Storm"), and one live album ("Live in Budapest") - some of which contain the best material that Stormwitch have ever recorded.
Close to the end of the 80’s the band decided to add more melodic elements to their typical Heavy Metal sound. Albums like "War of the Wizards"(1992), and "Shogun"(1994) were the products of this change, and even though they both had quite a few impressive compositions, they never managed to be accepted by the majority of the band’s fanbase. "Shogun" was to be the band’s last chapter…well, not quite!
It seems that the band’s music was not only influential to all of their fans throughout the world, but also to some of the most popular Metal bands of the 90’s. Both Hammerfall and White Skull have paid their tribute to Stormwitch by doing cover versions of the classics" "Ravenlord" & "Tears by the Firelight", covers that brought the name of the band back to the surface. Andy Muck, the only surviving member of the band’s original line up, gathered some of his "old friends" from Tyrant and Tyran’Pace and in 2002 released "Dance with the Witches".
Two years after that release, Nuclear Blast offered Stormwitch a contract, which led to the release of their ninth studio album that’s entitled "Witchcraft".
The opening track "The Sinister Child" raised false hopes of "Witchcraft" being an album of Epic Metal proportions. Unfortunately, Andy Muck’s band decided to follow in the footsteps of bands like Rhapsody and late Stratovarious, instead of paying tribute to the glorious past.
The new Stormwitch line up seems to give more emphasis to Keyboards and cheesy band vocals, rather than the classic Heavy Metal riffs that we all knew them by. The whole album seems to be following a mid-tempo and quite melodic motive, with the exception of songs like "Until the War will End" and "Puppet in a Play" when heavy guitars take over and show the full potential of the band.
What really impressed me though, and I still cannot find a way to explain it, is my attraction to the same-title composition "Witchcraft". This is probably one of the "cheesiest" songs of the album, but I still find it difficult to get the words of the chorus out of my mind. The only explanation is that Muck’s voice sounds a lot like Andy Deris during his early days in Helloween - you cannot really blame me for that - can you?
I really cannot say that "Witchcraft" is a bad album. Martin Winkler did a pretty good job with the production of the album, and there is also no question as to the musical abilities of the band’s current line up. I was personally quite disappointed because I believe that Stormwitch deserve much more than being a clone of the bands that they have influenced themselves.
If you like Teutonic Power Metal with "strong" melodic references, you will definitely like this album. As far as I’m concerned, I will wait for the band’s next album with the hope that Stormwitch will choose to explore their melodic side more in the way that Savatage did in albums like "Gutter Ballet" and "Edge of Thorns".
Review by John Stefanis
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