Album Reviews : Witchgrinder – The Demon Calling

Call fourth these powers of darkness… the demons of hell.

Finally, Melbourne’s industrial metal powerhouse, Witchgrinder, have finished their debut album, after 3 years of waiting for a follow-up to their well-received ‘Through the Eyes of the Dead’ EP. Filled with many samples and aggressive-yet-catchy metal songs, Witchgrinder blend the industrial grooves of Rob Zombie and Rammstein with the riff-driven power and angry yells of Pantera and Lamb of God. Consisting of 5 full, brand new songs, 3 from their EP and 4 short sample tracks placed in a nice order, this album does not drag on and become boring after a while.

A good thing that you can take note of on this album is how the band captures the energy from their live show into their studio recordings. The in-your-face, pounding riff assault and ferocity of their energetic live show connects with you well, not only on their new album, but also on their EP from 3 years ago. The title track, ‘The Demon Calling’, is an instant example of that (and a perfect album opener, including the 50 second intro ‘Ballad of the Damned’).

Excluding the title track, ‘Boneyard’ and ‘Cult of Voodoo’ are the standout tracks on the album. Boneyard is a straight-forward head banger which doesn’t have the sample tracks playing much of role throughout the song. It’s one of those songs where the main riff is kind of simple, but still sounds really heavy and catchy. Cult of VooDoo is a groovy, hard hitting rock anthem which will have your fists pumping in the air. Still featuring the harsh Lamb of God-esque vocals of Travis Everett, the verses for both of these tracks spookily whispered, sometimes sounding reminiscent to Marilyn Manson, but better.

EP tracks ‘Jack the Ripper’, ‘I Am Animal’ and ‘Curse of the Electric Eye’ are also featured on this album. All three of them were re-recorded, but the only one that sounds atleast slightly different is I Am Animal. Everything about the songs are still ruthless, but I prefer the old version of I Am Animal (being my favourite from the EP), only because the new vocal tracks didn’t sound as aggressive. The instrumental part still sounds very similar, but it’s obvious that everything was re-tracked in that song.

Overall, ‘The Demon Calling’ is a solid debut album that any industrial metal fan should get their greasy hands on soon. Even if you are not big on the industrial side of things, you may still like some of the stuff on the album, and it’s worth giving it a listen. 8.5/10

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