Wicca - Bloodrush
Wicca are a strange band. First off, they take the moniker based upon a religion that have one of top creeds 'Thou Shalt Harm None' and slightly blasphmeize it with their crushing thrash and brutal lyrics. Second, they've been non existent for about twenty years and suddenly appear out of nowhere with the new album. Originally formed in the 1980s with the release of their debut Splended Deed, they went into hiding, or rehab, or something... for twenty years. Suddenly it is 2010 and they resurface with a new album. Bloodrush is everything that old fans of Wicca can enjoy as it feels like the group kind of missed out on the last twenty years and are still performing Slayer-bred music. The riffs are simple, vocals raw and throaty, production is minimal, and it just smells of 80s thrash. While Wicca's thrash metal may not be as intense in recent times as certain bands, their music still knows how to thrash!
Bloodrush opens with "Hellcome" which is a slow, ambient instrumental that features some children singing before launching into "Sadsong." The good news about not being an overdrive speed metal thrash band is all the instruments can be heard clearly. The guitars don't overtake the drums and the vocals don't overtake the guitars by being in the forefront too much. As far as musical skill goes, mostly the guitars perform the same riffs over and over and the drums tend to stay in monotone, but thrash has an excuse to do that because it is catchy. Catchy tracks are listened to over and over, so therefore catchy riffs are fairly repeated also. The downside is most of the tracks start out, and end, on the same note through the chugging riffs, but there are a few variations that Wicca involve to make the music interesting. "Oppression" is a slow, melodic piece that abandons the heavy riffs and throaty vocals for soft string pickings and clean singing, almost in the vein of Nevermore's Warrel Dane. "Disneyland" seems almost laughable if it wasn't for the intensity of the music, which features a lot of chugging and also some technical breakdowns. Finally, "Pull Down The Wall" has a certain amount of groove and crunch to the music that makes it more than just a catchy thrash metal track and breaks from the Slayer influenced formula that Wicca mostly performs on this album. It rises and falls, ebbs and flows, and in the end leaves a lasting impression.
Wherever Wicca have been for the last twenty years, only the metal gods know. However, it is good to see these German thrash warriors back on their feet and still cranking out music. They may be old, but that doesn't mean they've rusted or lost their touch. With such a welcome reception of their album, let's up these guys decide to stop making such long haituses and instead keep touring and putting out catchy thrash albums.
Bloodrush opens with "Hellcome" which is a slow, ambient instrumental that features some children singing before launching into "Sadsong." The good news about not being an overdrive speed metal thrash band is all the instruments can be heard clearly. The guitars don't overtake the drums and the vocals don't overtake the guitars by being in the forefront too much. As far as musical skill goes, mostly the guitars perform the same riffs over and over and the drums tend to stay in monotone, but thrash has an excuse to do that because it is catchy. Catchy tracks are listened to over and over, so therefore catchy riffs are fairly repeated also. The downside is most of the tracks start out, and end, on the same note through the chugging riffs, but there are a few variations that Wicca involve to make the music interesting. "Oppression" is a slow, melodic piece that abandons the heavy riffs and throaty vocals for soft string pickings and clean singing, almost in the vein of Nevermore's Warrel Dane. "Disneyland" seems almost laughable if it wasn't for the intensity of the music, which features a lot of chugging and also some technical breakdowns. Finally, "Pull Down The Wall" has a certain amount of groove and crunch to the music that makes it more than just a catchy thrash metal track and breaks from the Slayer influenced formula that Wicca mostly performs on this album. It rises and falls, ebbs and flows, and in the end leaves a lasting impression.
Wherever Wicca have been for the last twenty years, only the metal gods know. However, it is good to see these German thrash warriors back on their feet and still cranking out music. They may be old, but that doesn't mean they've rusted or lost their touch. With such a welcome reception of their album, let's up these guys decide to stop making such long haituses and instead keep touring and putting out catchy thrash albums.
- Hellcome
- Sadsong
- Tongue Of Confusion
- Oppression
- Mega City
- Disneyland
- Bloodrush
- Generations Talk
- Psychic Warfare
- Pull Down The Wall
Twilight Zone Records
Reviewer: Colin McNamara
Jun 24, 2010
Jun 24, 2010
Next review:
Solution .45 - For Aeons Past
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