Hellwitch: Omnipotent Convocation (2009)

Yes, this album is already several years old.  I just recently picked it up though and that does not stop me from reviewing it now.  Especially since Hellwitch is a band that more people should be aware of.

Hellwitch's debut album Syzygial Miscreancy is revered as an underground metal classic.  Unfortunately, the band split up before they were able to release a worthy successor.  For a while anyway.  The band re-formed, sort of, a few years later, but it still took until 2009 before the follow-up to their debut was finally released.  Only singer/guitarist Patrick Ranieri has remained with the band throughout its history, with a bit of a revolving door of other musicians.  So it is probably fair to say that the band is his brainchild.

The sound of Hellwitch is rooted in the technical thrash that was emerging in the late 1980's/early 1990's with groups like Atheist, Heathen, Sadus, and the like.  But Hellwitch is more extreme with more of a death metal leaning through the heavier riffing style and the rougher vocal style.  Think a thrashier Death on Individual Thought Patterns, and you have a pretty good idea.  But where Death started heading in that direction after releasing a few standard death metal releases, Hellwitch was always on that track.  It seems almost backwards then that Hellwitch covers the Death classic "Infernal Death".

Hellwitch is damn fast, with blindingly fast riffs, pounding drums, and throbbing bass.  The vocals are delivered in an aggressive sneer that Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth would be proud of.  The band keeps things interesting by employing frequent time signature changes, tempo changes, and even the occasional out-of-left-field passage that sounds like an entirely different band.  All of this results in one hell of a good listen.  My personal favorite track on the album is "Epitome of Disgrace" which seems to be the best example of all of the technicality and brutality coming together for one perfect song.  Everything Hellwitch was working towards throughout the album came together with perfect clarity here.

As I said before, Hellwitch should be a more well-known band.  They remain legends in the Florida metal scene for good reason, but they are criminally overlooked elsewhere.  It has already been ten years since this album was released without much new material from them.  Hopefully something else drops soon.