Evil Calling (Intro)

The Devils Throat

Black Sunday

Mongrel Monument

Thou Shalt Suffer

Where Witches Burnt

My Mortal Flesh

Narrow Refuge

I’m The Vanity

Last Sheep Smashed (How To Ride The Goat Of Armageddon)

Gier (Vocals)
Baal (Guitar)

Swart (Guitar)

Ketz  (Bass)

Ork (Drums)
Hysteria (Keyboard)

Recorded in November 2004 at Iguana Studios - Freiburg (D)

review by Boris "Azrael" Witta ___     

Sometimes it is very easy to give a good rating, because everything, every detail, every single note on an album is perfect. “Where Witches Burnt”, the first full-length album of Atritas from Basilea is a case like that. I really don’t know what could have been better on this album. Let’s start with the most important thing: The music. It is damn great that after the first second, you already know, this is Atritas, nobody else. The characteristic lead guitars from Swart and Baal are again one of the most brillant things on “Where Witches Burnt”: always frosty, cold as ice, but in the same moment also melodic, epic and mighty. Then we have the voice of Gier, totally insane, high, full of aggression and hysteria, and in contrary to “In Regressu Diaboli”, the balance between the voice and the instruments is much better, everything is loud and good produced, but also well-poised. In general, the production is extremely fat and top professional, thanks to the Iguana Studio. Back to Atritas: The lyrics, which are now all written in English, are a lot more intelligent and a lot more thought over than in the past, and there’s also kind of a concept behind “Where Witches Burnt”. And just to say and that this is finally clear: This album is NOT commercial, this album only contains indeed great Melodic Black Metal! There are tons and hundreds of blastbeats, but Atritas didn’t make the mistake of creating just fast, destroying speed-songs, no, killers like “My Mortal Flesh” or “Narrow Refunge” (where guitarist Baal sings, great old-school Black Metal-voice) contain a lot of slower parts and Midtempo, so “Where Witches Burnt” is exciting in every second, it’s impossible to just listen calmy to this record. 

The opus infernale starts witch a majestic and dark intro, where somebody, who made a pact with the Devil, is pronounced guilty. Black melodies lay the perfect introduction to the following “The Devils Throat”, which starts slow, but then it’s time for the blast-attack! The infernal voice of Gier and the sensational lead guitars spread a abyssic atmosphere, and after the first break, subtle keyboards appear, and the vocals change between high screaming and deep growling, which sounds a lot better and has a lot more pressure than on the predecessor. “Black Sunday” starts with a short keyboard-intro, the song changes its tempo a lot of times, there’s everything from brutal blasting to slow and melancholic parts, and the first characteristic high scream of Gier takes place. And again these hellish lead guitars, totally black, totally freezing, totally beautiful. Schizophrenic. “Thou Shalt Suffer” starts hateful and with roaring blast, deadly guitars and satanic high vocals. This song contains a fantastic dramatic part which appears several times and which is very opulent. The titletrack itself is a true hymn, starts with sacral keyboards and dark verses, it’s the calm before the storm, and the following, very epic-melodic blastpart is one of the best on the whole album. The clean part and the following destruction is the ultimate kick. If you don’t go wild while listening to this song (Where Witches Burnt), then something must be very wrong with you. The whole song has a very archaic feeling of nature, and the coverartwork fits perfetc to it. “My Mortal Flesh” is the first song which is a bit slower, but just until the middle, then again, the drums crash forward. Just for “I’m The Vanity”, you need a bit more time, but then you develop the great structure of this song. 

So, what’s the conclusion after all? “Where Witches Burnt” is a very big step of Atritas, and this time, a deal with a label has to be possible, because this great work, this masterpiece really really deserves it. Melodic Black fucking Metal as its best!!

contact: www.atritas.ch

Rating: 9.3/10  

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