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Stormwitch > Priest of Evil > Reviews
Stormwitch - Priest of Evil

Killer melodic heavy/power metal. - 84%

Nightcrawler, January 7th, 2003

This is the Stormwitch compilation album containing songs from their first three studio albums: Walpurgis Night, Tales Of Terror and Stronger Than Heaven, and this is one of the few ways to actually hear these songs, as all of the above mentioned albums are all out of print since many years back on both CD and vinyl (Tales of Terror was never even printed on CD). There are a few reissues of them, but I'd say they're just as rare.
So, this is pretty much the only way to hear the older, classic material of this German 80's metal band, and that's a bloody shame, cause it's a great band.

The riffwork of the album is usually catchy and quite melodic, especially on the choruses. The guitar solos are totally blazing fast, and totally incredible.
The album also has lots of bass, it's always very evident, and there are a few bass breaks and the song Hell's Still Alive has a really cool bass intro. The drumming flows along and plays well, it's not overly spectacular, but too spectacular drums would draw the focus away from the main parts; the guitars and vocals. So, the drums are just fine.
The vocalist is quite different, and takes quite a while to appreciate. He sings in clean vocals always, throwing in one or two higher-pitched vocals (no screams, though) a bit here and there. He does what he does and he does it well.

The music is very melodic, high paced heavy/power metal, with very catchy melodies and killer guitarwork; both the riffing and the soloing of this album is excellent. They also have some epic-sounding material, like the 7 minutes long Jonathan's Diary, and the beautiful Masque Of The Red Death, beginning as a slow ballad to later speed up into one damn asskicking song.

They're not very heavy; it's more based on the melodic parts, but there are definitely some heavier moments of the album, like the title track Priest Of Evil, one of my personal songs. Evil, catchy and heavy- and that solo, fucking excellent!

I don't have the original versions of the three CD's, so I can't comment on the selection of songs, but I can say this - Every song rocks in one way or another, and there's a wide variety.
There is the faster, more straightforward stuff like Rats In The Attic and Point Of No Return. There is the heavier and darker stuff like Priest Of Evil and Sword Of Sagon (that one's not very dark, but it's heavier than most other songs on the album). There is the very melodic stuff like Ravenlord (killer riffwork on this one!) and Eternia.

Other great songs that deserve mention are Skull And Crossbones; a catchy pirate anthem, Arabian Nights, Stronger Than Heaven, which has a great melodic and catchy chorus, and the instrumental Dorian Gray.

An interesting fact is that the members of the Swedish power metal band HammerFall are huge Stormwitch fanatics, and that they have covered Ravenlord both live and on the Glory To The Brave EP.

Overall, there is not one bad song on the entire album, just more or less great songs. The atmosphere and melodies created by the band is just great, and I'd definitely recommend it to a fan of heavy and or power metal.