Century Media Records - 2022
7/10
Somehow this record managed to sneak its way under my radar for several months. Witchery came back this summer for the first time in five years, coughing up a record more brief and to the point than the last couple. Wise move on their part, as Nightside probably couldn’t have withstood much more length than a half hour. This is an accurate statement for most black/thrash records, and this really isn’t an exception.
In fact, giving this the black/thrash label may not even be as necessary as we may think. True, it certainly holds all of the aesthetic. Between the album art, the harsh production, and being full of songs titled like “Churchburner” and “Popecrusher,” it almost seems on the nose. But stylistically, this seems to leap towards the melodic death metal end. Vocally, it teeters on that line of guttural and raspy, and the buzzsaw tones really drive this home. Perhaps this is attributed to being from Sweden, but man, there are more parallels to At The Gates than there are Hellripper.
Nightside isn’t entirely void of those classic elements, though. “Don’t Burn The Witch” has plenty of raw intensity over speed metal chops. I also can’t be the only person that thought “Under The Altar” sounded like three different Slayer riffs combined into one quick instrumental tune. Channeling as much evil fun as possible never ceases to touch every song, with only the tiniest touch of rhythmic groove.
For what it's worth, I’m pretty certain Witchery nails exactly what they’re going for here. Admittedly it’s pretty bare-bones and doesn’t have a whole lot to it, but I also can’t say that any of this felt like a waste of time. Certainly worthwhile for fans of the band or style.
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