Along with King Diamond, Witchery should be synonymous with classic haunting tales, graveyards and all things that go bump in the night.

When you have the spirit of 80’s Speed/Thrash Metal both U.S. and German (early Grave Digger) bread weaved into your own sound how can you go wrong. On top of that, being thematically consistent will always keep listeners interested and their imaginations reading.

With "Don’t Fear the Reaper" and one listen to the instrumental opener 'Disturbing the Beast' its hard not to notice the bands charm and sound. Guitarist Jensen (also from The Haunted), keeps a particular and distinctive style for Witchery as it varies from being straight ahead full on speed (ex; 'Plague Rider') to very melodic leads and tempo changes in 'Stigmatized'. “Reaper” is not like previous Witchery discs, yes it definitely sounds like a Witchery album but these guys just know how to compose and avoid redundancy pitfalls. Keyboards accompany the track 'Ashes' and enhance the atmosphere while the mid pace of 'Damned in Hell' creeps across the cemetery and is what Witchery does best….mood and variety. The addition of the keyboards this time adds more of a Black Metal feel to Witchery similar to Dimmu Borgir which fills out the bands already haunting persona. The demonic delivery to Toxine’s vocals are very appropriate for Witchery and what’s good is that they are toxic yet rather discernable.

I have been a supporter of these Swedes since their 1998 debut “Restless and Dead” and I only hope they become as successful as similar counterparts Arch Enemy and Children of Bodom because they deserve it.

Bring them to the United States already!