Review by Carl on September 17, 2024.

It has been quite the wait, but Witchfukker has finally gobbed up their first full length, and I can say that it's certainly a malicious blob of black bile and phlegm that has been spit at this unsuspecting world.

Being underground old-school metal in their utterly relentless ways, the band plow themselves through a collection of maliciously blackened sounding collection of putrid sounding, and especially primitive sort of extreme metal. While it had me thinking of the early stuff by acts such as Sarcofago, Mayhem, Psychic Possessor, Sadistik Exekution, Vulcano, Beherit, and Mutilator (and more of the like), I can't really point to a particular band that this sounds like. An impressive feature, because this lands Witchfukker pretty much in a league of their own. Granted, the ingredients used here all have a familiar sound to them, but it's what the band does with them that makes it click, in their own way. It's all old school and underground as fuck, of course. From the primitive blasts to the angry swarming guitar riffing, sharp vitriolic leads, and cavernous growling vocals, it all has that old time-y obscure feeling to it. That the band took their influences and molded them into a collection of varied tracks with something as a face of their own is absolutely admirable.

In practice, this gives us tracks that are surprisingly varied, utilizing both blunt, primitive riffing underpinned by speedy percussive blasting, as well as stomping midtempo sections and crawling, doomed-out parts, with these last ones calling to mind names such as Dream Death or Saint Vitus. This acidic concoction is poured into simple but deliciously nasty songs, surrounded by a pitch-black, pretty volatile atmosphere. The production keeps it all suitably obscure, while still sounding clear as day. The balance between the separate instruments is pretty good, even if the bass could've used more room up front in the mix. I have to say that I have seldom heard of a production job that so effortlessly straddles the line between underground and old-school atmosphere on one side, and clarity and balance on the other. This is a damn fine job indeed, although I am again going to state that I would not have minded more low-end in the mix.

For a debut full-length, this is quite an impressive album. It sounds excellent, while it dishes out great music rolled into a malignant blackened style of thrash/death metal, with added points for the enthusiasm on show throughout. It is one of those albums that also keeps growing the more you hear it, so I don't think I'll be tiring of this one just yet. This is a bloody good slice of underground delight, that I can recommend to all into authentic old-school metal-isms, for sure!

Rating: 8.5 out of 10