Burning Witches - ‘Hexenhammer’ is an iconic heavy metal record to be worshiped

We've suffered close to 20 years of being surrounded by a sustained saturated mess of “nu-school” metal bands that all follow the same format of ‘Let’s play as heavy as we can, scream as loud and deep as we can, and we’ll all try and outdo each other with the “heaviest” breakdown we can possibly pull off in a ridiculous drop tuning’, and we are so over it.

Whatever happened to controlled chaos, ravishing riffs, beautiful metal vocal melodies, and progressive songwriting? A certain iconic style of songwriting that lead to the greatness of bands such as Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Black Sabbath, Anthrax, and Scorpions vanished into the darkness only to be replaced by horrific pop metal bands.

We’ve been longing for originality, passion, fury, and that ethereal mystery that only a handful of artists can portray through their music such as those mentioned above. ‘Hexenhammer’ is the long-lost relic of heavy metal that we’ve been waiting for and Burning Witches are bringing it into the modern era through a portal of audio hellfire. This is the old school heavy metal record we’ve been begging for Lucifer to deliver to us, and it’s a beast!

Hexenhammer could have been written by Rob Halford and the devil himself, and still wouldn’t have the unique quality, or monstrous sound, that Burning Witches have managed to capture on this record. Considering Burning Witches only formed in 2015, they sound like heavy metal gods, and Hexenhammer should be worshiped, not just listened to.

The opening track, ‘The Witch Circle’ truly sets the mood for this record with its haunting vocal echoes over a slow discordant guitar. You genuinely feel as if you’re being placed under a spell by Burning Witches. However, the all-female metal outfit waste no time in launching an assault on the senses with the second track, ‘Executed’. It’s fast, brutal, firey, and dangerous. Littered with heavenly demonic vocals, raging riffs, thrash metal drum beats, and killer solos, you’re thrown into a heavy metal timewarp.

‘Hexenhammer’ is the very embodiment of true, old school heavy metal for the modern age and the album should be held in the highest regard. ‘Hexenhammer’ is iconic. Period.

BURNING WITCHES, founded in 2015, are not just one of the hottest exports from Switzerland. Well no, the Swiss girls are one of the most interesting newcomers in Old School Heavy Metal in the past years… worldwide! The band already bewitched the scene press with their first single ‘Burning Witches’ (2016) and achieved the title, ‘Demo of the month’ in German Metal Hammer and Rock Hard.

For sure, the powerful Heavy Metal, which also includes influences from Power and Speed as well as traditional Metal, thrills with a great songwriting from band founder Romana and vocalist Seraina and catches listeners with the punchy vocals from the singer, who is often compared with legendary Rob Halford (JUDAS PRIEST).

It's not surprising that so much talent led to a spectacular self-titled debut album that was released in 2017, and the Swiss band didn't only receive the attention of the traditional Heavy Metal audience but also from one of the scene heavy weights, Nuclear Blast Records, who quickly signed the band.