Witches' Sabbath
New World Plague
5.4
Witches' Sabbath are a black/death metal band with a slight touch of creativity which just barely keeps their heads above water. Where this creativity lies, I'm not sure. Probably within the vocal lines and random keyboard melodies. Perhaps this touch of creativity is also what ruins what would be another completely unoutstanding blackened death metal album. Compared to Zyklon, Myrkskog, and Cadaver Inc. by their label, I'm not positive I can hear much of any of those bands in New World Plague, aside from general style and delivery.
With a guitar tone which sounds exactly like Krisiun's "Black Force Domain", Witches' Sabbath certainly can't be praised too highly for their confusingly original delivery. Throughout their mid-paced thrash rhythms or staccato black metal breaks, the drum programming's certainly enough to give anyone a headache. I can't say I'm much of a fan of drum machines in the first place, but in the way Witches' Sabbath use them, it's got such a basement recording feel, even if the production doesn't reflect that. The vocals are a bit too prominent in the mix and range anywhere from a bellowing and laughable growl to a very Dani Filth style that's hard to accept as serious. Add that to how physically exhausting it is to hear poorly timed vocal lines and top it off with some of the most god-awful and flat clean-singing, and you've got a New World Plague of some sort.
Highlights include "Legions of Death", which starts out with a really hollow black metal sound and moves into classic death metal territory, showcasing some of the actual talent within Witches' Sabbath before choosing to ruin the song with those mismatched clean vocals. "Silent Path To Die" has some good shredding melodies spiraling up and down, but there isn't enough actually present within the song to tie together the mess of garbled vocals and quickly picked verses. Even on "Her Eternal Realm/Tribute", there's a flurry of riffs that might catch your attention and some nice melody at the end. See, they're not totally inept, just unsure of how to keep themselves from running dry and becoming dull.
Well, at least it's not another nu-metal submission, that's one positive thing I can say about Witches' Sabbath. If these guys can find a drummer who can really nail the shit out of his kit and polish themselves up a little, they might actually accumulate more than a few fans. It's certainly vicious enough and the spirit is there; it's just the real meaty substance in which New World Plague lacks.
