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Kultowy debiutancki album Stormwitch z 1984 wznowiony na CD!



Album, który stał się jednym z filarów piorunującego heavy metalu z Niemiec. Trudno wskazać jakiegoś metalowca siedzącego w klasycznym heavy metalu, który nie kojarzyłby tej płyty. "Walpurgis Night" to klasyk. Ten album ma wszystko to, co powinien mieć. Melodie, riffy, wokale i wszystkie pozostałe składowe, które stanowią część dobrej muzyki są tutaj obecne.

Debiutancki krążek Stormwitch charakteryzuje bardzo twórcze podejście do pracy gitary oraz perkusji. Nie mamy tutaj stonowanej łupanki na jedno kopyto. Bębniarz urozmaica swoją grę nie tylko dobrze dobranymi przejściami, lecz także dość nietuzinkowymi patentami, które dopiero w najbliższych latach wpiszą się do kanonu metalowej gry perkusyjnej. Metalowe riffy, które wydobywają się z gitar są przedniego muzycznego sortu i w tym temacie nie ma się do czego przyczepić. Prawdziwe heavy metalowe mięso i tyle. Choć produkcja dźwięku może pozostawiać wiele do życzenia miękkim fajom, które są przyzwyczajone do nowoczesnego wypolerowanego brzmienia, to prawdziwy maniacy metalu powinni ją pokochać już od pierwszej nuty, nawet jeżeli nie są koneserami starych albumów.

Już od pierwszych sekund trwania tego albumu i głośnego "Are you ready?!" rozpoczynającego "Cave of Steenfoll" Stormwitch traktuje nas kunsztem swego brzmienia. Heavy metal spod znaku Stormwitch jest prosty i piękny. Każdy z dziewięciu utworów jest charakterystyczną kompozycją o silnie zarysowanych cechach. Aranżacje w każdej z nich są mistrzowskie. Postawiono w nich na mnogość doskonałych riffów i motywów. Mimo tego, że w utworach dużo się dzieje, to nie mamy przesytu gitarowych zagrywek. Wszystko jest bardzo dobrze przemyślane i poszczególne partie nie gryzą się ze sobą w utworach. Dzięki temu Stormwitch podało nam wyjątkowo smaczne i przejrzyste kompozycje, które stały się już praktycznie klasykami.

Wesoło gnający do przodu "Werewolves on the Hunt" stanowi jeden z szybszych i bardziej błyszczących momentów na płycie. Debiut Stormwitch zawiera raczej średnio-szybkie kawałki, idealne do headbangingu, jednak nawet przyspieszenie rytmu nie gubi czaru jaki roztacza muzyka Stormwitch. Jednak ten utwór nie jest jedynym przejawem mistrzostwa metalowej klasy. Niszczycielski "Warlord" z prężną i ostrą perkusją jest prawdziwym żeliwnym kanałem dla rozpalonego ognia wydobywającego się z gitar. Przebojowy utwór tytułowy to jeden z najbardziej charakterystycznych metalowych hymnów, który spokojnie może stać obok "Balls to the Wall", "The Troopera", "Medieval Steel" i "Come To The Sabbath". Melodyjny zakrzyk w refrenie dodaje mocy tej kompozycji i tak roziskrzonej dzięki płomiennym gitarom.

Metal na debiucie Stormwitch sypie iskrami nieprzerwanie już do samego końca. "Excalibur" osobiście należy do jednych z mych ulubionych instrumentalnych wałków. Świetne operowanie klimatem i przetykanie riffów odpowiednim tłumieniem dźwięków sprawia, że gitary zawarte w tym numerze są bardzo żywotne i elektryzujące. Na tej płycie po prostu nie ma słabego utworu. Od wyrazistego "Cave of Steenfoll" poprzez hiciarski "Skull and Crossbones" i owiany mglistym woalem tajemnicy "Flour in the Wind" po ostatnie wybrzmiewania "Thunderland".

Skoro tak już punktuję mocne strony tego wydawnictwa, warto też powiedzieć nieco o tekstach. "Walpurgis Night" jest albumem, który powinien stać się podręcznikiem do tego jak należy tworzyć warstwę liryczną w heavy metalu. Nie dość, że wszystkie utwory mają cudownie i kreatywnie napisane teksty, to ponadto idealnie pasują do melodyjnych partii wokalnych. Bardzo dobrze zostały rozłożone poszczególne akcenty i artykulacje. Wersy nie są sztywne, lecz swobodnie płyną w utworach, Dzięki tej swobodzie same kompozycje zyskują bardzo wiele i nawet po trzydziestu latach od momentu ich nagrania dalej wydają się świeże i interesujące. Tematyka tekstów też jest bardzo dobrze dobrana. Nie mamy tutaj plastikowego mordowania smoków ani utyskiwania na społeczne nierówności (thrash tak bardzo). Mamy dokładnie to, czego oczekuje się od heavy metalu. Tajemnicy, szczypty okultyzmu, dawnych legend, opowieści z przeszłości, garści mrocznych mitów i dużej ilości dobrej zabawy.

Sterviss


The country? Germany. The year? 1984. The same year when Running Wild released “Gates to Purgatory”, Warlock released “Burning the Witches” and Helloween participated in the split “Death Metal”. The sound? What would later be known as “German metal” or “Teutonic metal” and with time would evolve and split into power metal and speed metal. So, all these bands caught the tide and the influence of the NWoBHM but adjusted the British sound to the German characteristics, basically gave the sound a touch of death-cold, as all these bands back then came in the “spikes, leather and the occult” format.

What we’ve got here is a surge of raw NWoBHM, totally uncompromising and with very grim lyrics. In fact, throughout their next 4 releases their trademark would be precisely their gothic-themed lyrics, courtesy of Lee Tarot (Harald Spengler, RIP), which would win them the nickname of “Masters of the black romantic”.

Musically, they show a high degree of skill. Guitarists Lee Tarot and Steve ‘Snake’ Merchant (Stephan Kauffman) are capable of delivering Maidenesque riffs – in fact I tend to liken the instrumental “Excalibur” with Maiden’s Transylvania, they both share this kind of medieval metallic approach. Drummer Pete Lancer (Pete Langer) delivers a thundering load which you can best appreciate in “Werewolves on the Hunt” (that title pals, those lyrics…). And Andy Aldrian (Andy Mück) gives an aura of evil to the very wicked lyrics with his distinctive, raw voice; although he doesn’t focus on high notes, he’s also capable of delivering them (towards the end of “Werewolves on the Hunt”). From beginning to end, the album features elaborate soloing, constant and profuse riffing patterns (many times approaching Maiden-like gallops) and a stout and solid rhythm base. Some nice surprises for fans of progressive metal await as there’s some attempts at progression, or at least what constitutes a common feature to many progressive albums, that is, rhythm shifts; these can be seen, for example, towards the middle of “The Cave of Steenfoll”, with a couple of consecutive, all encompassing, intricate rhythm shifts which then give way to the solo. Most songs share a fast tempo, with the exception of “Priest of Evil”, which in turn has a more atmospheric, thick, dense approach.

Lyrically, this album is rather different from what their compatriots were doing at that time, feels closer to Mercyful Fate or even Venom, most songs revolve around different aspects of evil (Satanism on “Priest of Evil”, piracy on “Skull and Crossbones”, witches on “Walpurgis Night”) and anguish (“Werewolves on the Hunt”, “Flour in the Wind”). The songwriting was good in particular, no cheesy lyrics or dodgy rhyming, most of it is consonant and, without a blink of the eye, evokes very powerful, dark imagery. In one sentence, the listener will be thrown into an unpolished string of ruthless and visceral obscurity.

A few songs deserve special attention. I think the one that really outstands here is “Werewolves on the Hunt” both lyrically and musically. Very few other metal songs to that date succeeded in evoking such an overwhelming impression and mood. First with the title, think of a bunch of werewolves out for blood, chasing you in a forest (“Deep in the misty forest, In nights when wind stops blowing”). This song is very fast paced approaching speed metal (by 1984 standards), and has a very intricate, complex, Maidenesque, fast, 90 seconds solo accompanied by continuous hammering drumrolls. “Flour in the Wind” presents a wicked miller who goes on to steal the harvest of a village, leaving them no other choice but crude starvation, plain and simple; the song features reminiscences of Maiden’s gallops, complex guitar chords and continuous drumrolls in perfect harmony with Mück’s voice and dark lyrics (“death, pain, agony, famine is spread on through the air”). The other track that shines over the top for me is the instrumental Excalibur, which revolves around a riff pattern with some chord progression, a melancholic solo and a fast blast towards the end, with a whole load of drumrolling through and through.

To recap, this unique jewel combines power, speed, lyrics and technique, all into one; don’t expect any concessions here, this is crude, raw metal made in Germany with a high degree of musicianship and dark lyrics at its best, making this a rather unique creation.

paradisebeyond


At first look, Stormwitch were a pretty dark sounding and evil band, but as we follow their releases, they quickly goes into a more accessible direction. It actually took me quite a while to get to hear these guys and I did not have any regrets to finally give them a listen. Well, to be very precise, the title of this review fits perfectly with the overall sound of early Stormwitch's material, it's basically the sound of the NWOBHM bands, but with an interesting Germanic approach. Of course, back in 1984, the extreme metal scene started out and the classic heavy metal bands were not that "new" anymore. However, bands like Running Wild, Grave Digger, Attack or Atlain were doing similar stuff back in that particular year, but Stormwitch made it clear with their first full-length album that heavy metal was still rocking out awesome stuff in Germany.

Named "Walpurgis Night", released in 1984, is the first official release of the band. Just looking at this cover art shows the evil image that the band used in their early days. The first thing I liked about this album is its primitive sound while also sounding great, the instruments are mixed pretty well and everything is heard perfectly, even the badass bass. It definitely sounds like an early 80s NWOBHM record, which is an even better reason to make you want to listen to it! nine tracks are featured on this album with a running time of 40 minutes and basically no bad tracks at all, if you ask me. Let me say at first that Iron Maiden were probably their biggest influence on this album. As an Iron Maiden fan, I was quite happy to hear the famous instrumental track called "Excalibur". You can easily notice in that song some similarities with Maiden's instrumental tracks like "Transylvania" and "Genghis Khan". The guys of Stormwitch were already skilled musicians by their debut record, by delivering impressive guitar solos through all the album tracks. Let's not forget the front man "Andy Mück" who also impress with his intense vocals.

His vocals are unique and he is able to use a great variety of ranges, but his high-pitched voice made all the difference, songs like "Thunderland" and "Warlord" are great example of that and displays his talent. Well, this album also possess a great catalogue of memorable guitar riffs as the songs varies in term of structure. In fact, each songs are unique and very different from each other, no one can deny how great the track "Priest of Evil" is. Being the one of the most popular Stormwitch composition, it's also one of their catchiest song, with its memorable chorus. The same actually apply to the awesome pirate lyrics song inspired "Skull and Crossbones", but this one also caught my attention especially because of its great melodic parts, it is also my most played song of this album for those reasons. One interesting melodic track is the self-titled "Walpurgis Night", which has a very nice dual guitar melody part. Though, for people that like fast-pacing riffs and intensity, this album can make you happy as well with "Werewolves on the Hunt", this song has the classic speed metal formula and delivers pretty well.

The German approach to this NWOBHM-influenced album made it unique for that reason. Their lyrics are also interesting, writing about the occult and mostly tales and medieval stories. I obviously have to recommend such release to any old school heavy metal fan, it's a very accessible band and even more as you progress in their discography. However, I have to say that their most worthy material is definitely the first three albums, being the one reviewed here, "Tales of Terror" and "Stronger Than Heaven". German metal scene has always been one of the greatest, and Stormwitch is one of the first band to have been part of that scene. They are sometimes forgotten by some people, but albums like these really needs to have more auditors, as they are classic heavy metal records! Give "Walpurgis Night" a listen and I am pretty sure you won't be disappointed.

DesecratorJ



..::TRACK-LIST::..

1. Cave Of Steenfoll 4:24
2. Priest Of Evil 4:39
3.Skull And Crossbones 5:47
4. Werewolves On The Hunt 4:40
5. Walpurgis Night 3:04
6. Flour In The Wind 4:49
7. Warlord 4:30
8. Excalibur 3:48
9. Thunderland 4:30



..::OBSADA::..

Andy Mück - Vocals
Harald Spengler (R.I.P. 2013) - Guitars (lead)
Stefan Kauffmann - Guitars (rhythm)
Ronny Gleisberg - Bass
Peter Langer - Drums




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV0mmgr5nKw



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