Warlock - Burning The Witches

Back in the early 80s, heavy metal had already begun to take shape from its 70s blues-based beginnings and culminate into something heavier and far more edgey. Even though heavy metal music originated in Great Britain, other countries such as the USA, Germany, Finland, and even Japan were taking their stab at the genre by the early 80s. Warlock was one of these bands to step out of Germany. Formed by guitarists Peter Szigeti and Rudy Graf, bassist Frank Rittel, and drummer Michael Eurich in 1982, this band sought after something to set themselves apart from the rest of the bands of that time period, and that something was female vocalist Doro Pesch. And in 1984, the band got to show for themselves with their first studio LP.

So what makes Warlock so special? Well for starters, Doro's beautifully powerful voice melds so well with the heavy metal music the rest of the band was playing. There's no one quite like her, and once you become accustomed to her unique style, you'll too be convinced that she is in fact, a metal goddess. There had been instances in the 80s of female pop metal bands or hard rock pop-based bands (a la Vixen, Pat Benatar, and Joan Jett), but Warlock's brand of music is straight-up PURE HEAVY METAL from front to back. For the four albums that this band released, they managed to maintain their complete heavy edge while they lasted (albiet with incorporated melodic stylings on the latter two albums). The music on BTW is comparable to the likes of Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Ozzy, though with a female singer fronting the band. There is no popular hair metal to be found on this disc. One reviewer blindingly stated that this album is full of keyboards. I don't normally like to comment on other people's specific reviews, but I'll make an exception here. What album exactly did you listen to? Certainly not BTW because I've heard the album many times now, and THERE ARE NO KEYBOARDS TO BE FOUND ANYWHERE ON THIS DISC. With that out of the way, onto the album itself:

Starting off is the fast, blazing 'Sign Of Satan', which sports an opening guitar riff that almost matches Judas Priest's 'Freewheel Burning'. Next there is the mid-paced 'After The Bomb' which reminds me instrumentally of Blizzard-era Ozzy Osbournne. 'Dark Fade' starts out heavy just like the previous track but breaks into a brief faster passage where outstanding guitar work can be found. The heavy tracks don't let up until 'Without You' which is the album's only ballad. It's actually quite excellent, and not a wimpy ballad by any means. The pace picks right back up again with the lightning-quick 'Metal Racer'. The stellar title track is the high point of the disc, being that it's one of the catchiest, yet crunchiest heavy metal songs I've heard in a long time. 'Hateful Guy' has a similar fast pace to the previous track, but the band employs some cool harmonies within the chorus. Plus, Doro really lets out an ear-shattering scream on this track! The album closes with the excellent slow-paced metal rocker 'Holding Me'.

In general, I'm highly impressed with this debut album, as it's so filled with raw energy that the disc almost catches on fire. BTW displays the kind of "eager to make it big" passion that I like and find in certain albums of some bands. Look at some of the suggestions below for other band's albums with this same quality. It's not flawless, but there isn't a single song on here that I don't like, so I'm giving it 4.5 stars. I've read this elsewhere, but for the most part, the enjoyability of Warlock comes from what you think of Doro's vocals. I firmly believe that her German-accented shout is quite awesome, and fits well with the rest of the band. She certainly belongs in the heavy metal genre. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Warlock
• Burning
• Th
• Witches

[Zodas79]

whats the movie in the vid?

[sivazh]

Warlock ruled. The first Doro album Force Majeure was supposed to be a Warlock album but they had legal trouble over the name with former members. Check it out if you haven't heard it, it's great, sounds very much like Triumph and Agony.

[carlosalazar1000]

great! song!!! lml.

[MSGDK]

i love the description of the video!

[GreekPiranha]

B-E-A-UTIFUL!!! GREAT SONG BY A GREAT BAND!! and doro's voice is phenomenal, so powerful!!

[dokkcrue71]

Hell Yeah,,2 Thumbs Up !!!