It is easy to forget how far back Witches Hammer go. The Canadian act formed in the early 1980s at the height of thrash’s dominance, but disbanded after releasing only a handful of demos. Through their raw recordings, and in part due to Marco Banco’s involvement in Blasphemy’s monumental Fallen Angel of Doom, they became a cult act. During the 2000s, multiple compilations of their demos surfaced, but the biggest surprise came when the band reunited in 2018 and released their debut record, Damnation Is My Salvation, in 2020.
Despite the three-decade gap, Witches Hammer produced an uncompromising recital of black/thrash fury. Remaining true to that tradition, their work thrived on its discordant solos, punk-ish energy, and the raw but suitable production that obscured everything into primal darkness, something that continued with their follow-up, Devourer of the Dead. Their new, and by accounts final, record, Final Storm, follows the same black/thrash blueprint. Still, its cleaner production casts the songwriting in a different light, bringing its melodic and traditional heavy metal impulses into focus.
The foundation remains on thrash and proto-black metal, with Witches Hammer providing an exhilarating recital. They carry the frenzied and ragged approach of the 1980s, their guitar work spiralling into discordant solos and razor-sharp riffs. Their rhythmic progression in line with 1980s thrash taps into the punk tradition, giving the songs a reckless momentum that often feels one step away from being derailed. While for the majority of Final Storm they stay within these boundaries, they occasionally push into more extreme territory. The faster parts in “Mantle of Death” reach a near, but not quite, blastbeat-level ferocity. “Twisting in Torment” applies tremolo picking to evoke a more blackened perspective, while its martial rhythmic backbone lends the song a death metal weight.
Where things shift is mainly through the production. Compared to Witches Hammer’s two previous records, the production provides a much cleaner presentation. As a result, the riffing comes across as even more precise, the definition of every picked note coming through in striking clarity. It makes the guitar in “Into the Gates of Hell” feel like a machine gun, every note landing with brutal force. In turn, this has exposed Witches Hammer’s heavy metal sensibilities, especially when it comes to the solo work.
Final Storm does not feature the frenzied, Slayer-derived methods of the 1980s. It also adds a melodic flavour on top. The interaction of these two sides creates a great spectacle, especially in “We Are Legion” where the first solo arrives with full dissonance and no mercy. In contrast, the second iteration strives for something more nuanced and expressive.
If Final Storm is indeed the final release from Witches Hammer, then this is exactly the way that they should go out. Not only does the record present an overarching collection of their history, but it is also presented in the most appropriate way. The cleaner production, the heavy metal sensibilities, together with the more extreme blackened parts, make for a record that feels as complete as it could be.