Year of the Witch

Seven Witches' fifth album has been described as the ending of an era for the band. It is the only album to feature Winters Bane/Beyond Fear bassist Dennis Hayes and drummer Craig Anderson and is the last to feature vocalist James Rivera, who left to focus on Helstar. It also hints at the ambition of the band's future releases and is one of their only albums that doesn't feature some kind of cover song...

In terms of both style and structure, you could say that this album has two different sides to it. The first half appropriately picks up where "Passage TO The Other Side" left off and features the standard classic metal songwriting with modern metal touches and a few new elements to keep things interesting. The second side is where the ambition really starts to kick in and has a few more symphonic moments and dramatic spoken segments amidst the theatrical power metal. It all adds up to one of the strangest Witch albums to date...

Predictably enough, the first half is where the album shines the most. While the title track isn't a strong highlight and there are plenty of cheesy moments scattered throughout ("Metal Asylum" being the very manifestation of classic metal cheese), the songs are still full of strong hooks and memorable riffs/vocals. "Fires Below" is made memorable by its faster tempos and slightly pompous pre-chorus, "Cries Of The Living" is a cool mid-tempo track in the vein of Exodus' "Shroud Of Urine" or Candlemass' "Born In A Tank," "If You Were God" is an upbeat rocker penned by Megadeth/F5 bassist Dave Ellefson, and "Can't Find My Way" is a unique ballad that features a cool bassline and a solid vocal performance. Say what you will about the other side but I still advise you to give some of these songs a listen.

Unfortunately, the second side doesn't live up to the first side's power and its own epic premise. Its biggest flaw is that the story itself doesn't even make sense, automatically rendering the very brief spoken parts useless aside from atmospheric value. The regular songs like "Voice of Jacob" and "The Prophet Is You" are still pretty decent but "Circles" sounds like a complete rewrite of "Can't Find My Way." I could understand the idea of using the melody as a reprise of sorts, but that would only make sense if that ballad had actually been a part of the concept at hand...

I think this is an example of why half-concept albums rarely work out unless you are God's gift to music (aka Rush): the stories themselves are rarely developed, feel rushed, and often lead to the non-concept not standing out as much as they could. Then again, this album does kinda stand out on the basis of reversing the latter...

This album isn't as good as the two before it but it also doesn't go into the abyss of the two after it. It's worth checking out for Witch fans though you'll never want to hear the name "Jacob" again by the time your listening session is finished...

Pros:
1) Great band performance
2) Strong songwriting on the first side and a few decent second side highlights
3) Some interesting experimental tracks

Cons:
1) Still a lot of cheese presented
2) The concept ultimately suffers from a lack of coherence
3) Occasionally grating backing vocals

My Current Favorites:
"Fires Below," "Cries Of The Living," "If You Were God," "Can't Find My Way," and "Voice Of Jacob"

"I know now, Jacob is me"

I've usually been quite a big fan when it comes to the things James Rivera has been a part of. Helstar is a classic act in my book, Destiny's End was an amazingly fresh and newer effort for him, his side project Distant Thunder was a perfect shadow of Helstar, and now he's also the main vocalist for Vicious Rumors. His vocals on their 2006 release "Warball" were top notch as well, I'm surprised how well he's kept his voice. So it was inevitable that'd I'd eventually stumble upon Seven Witches, but I almost wish I never did. Seven Witches is probably one of the most dull, uninspired, and lifeless bands I've ever heard.

The mix with Rivera and the instruments here is pretty out of place. The production is very thick and heavy with that modern touch a lot of people don't like. Often the guitars are too heavy in that they'll have that dull modern sound to them, and those whammy effects get old pretty fast. Its probably apparent that I'm not going to praise Jack Frost's guitar work here at all, because these rhythm's, riffs, and everything seem washed out and are hardly catchy. The solo's aren't too bad though, but not great either. The bass tends to stand out a lot more than the guitars at times, and on some tracks like Can't Find My Way it pretty much drives the songs. The drums are simply put, barely passable and unmemorable.

Getting back to the vocals though, I'm not too impressed with Rivera's performance here either. Its probably him trying to fit in with the band or something, or perhaps Jack Frost and the band members forcing him to sing the way he does here, which just sounds pretty unpolished throughout a large chunk of the album. The use of his background shrieking is pretty downright terrible throughout some of the songs, especially on If You Were God. The timings seem pretty off, and they're just not thrown in very effectively. The background vocals (I'm assuming done by Jack Frost) are pretty random, they really just seem to come out of know where. They don't do much either.

This album is very ambitious and has a lot potential. Can't Find My Way is a great example, it has a lot of atmosphere behind it but never really goes anywhere. And then the odd and untrained solo ruins it, seriously I'm hardly critical when it comes to solos but this one just sounds so unbearable as if they missed a few notes while recording it, but didn't even care to go back and fix it. Whispers, I'm sorry but when they're whispering "Jacob" left and right throughout this little interlude, I can't take it seriously at all. Its embarrassingly laughable. But that's not the end of Jacob! "I know now, Jacob is me" is track 11, Jacob Speaks, at 4 seconds long. What?? And well the other interludes on here are practically just as bad and something you'll forget instantly. This is just a mess.

The majority of the album is like this. The epitome of dullness, completely empty, filled with boring rhythm's that don't seem to grab you or go anywhere, utterly lame interludes, and ultimately topped off with unpolished vocals even from a legend. Too many songs sound like they could really do something unique or take a twist for the best, but they don't. Fires Below and Cries of the Living are probably the only commendable tracks here, the only ones I actually -truly- enjoyed. Even if you're a big fan of James Rivera's vocals and the various bands he's been a part of and want to hear this just for him, I still can't recommend this at all. And by looking over the other reviews and ratings their other albums have gotten, I have no motivation to check out any of their other releases. No thanks, but this album is enough of them for me.

"I know now, Jacob is me"

I had the opportunity to not only see Seven Witches twice in 3 days but had the chance to hang out with a metal legend who also happens to be a dear friend of mine...James Rivera. Now I liked Passage to the Other Side but felt that there were a few fillers on there. However, I picked up Year of the Witch and with one listen I knew that it was so much more than Passage. The album is 100% classic metal from beginning to end. Some will think right away that it will sound dated but trust me, this album also has an extremely fresh sound. James Rivera has never sounded better and Jack Frost's solos are better than ever. The new rhythm section of Dennis Haynes and Jeff Curenton is just one of the best I have ever seen and they compliment each other well although only half of that duo played on the new album

The album kicks off with a sort of tribute to all the bands that had an impact on metal and influenced the band called Metal Asylum. Very good tribute and a great metal anthem for the new millenium. The rest of the songs on this album are extremely catchy but a few songs on particular stand out for me to include Cries of the Living, Cant Find My Way, Year of the Witch, and Voice of Jacob (which happens to be part of an excellent concept song on the album). There is also a song on the album (If You Were God) that was penned by Dave Ellefson formerly of Megadeth.

Any fan of traditional metal must own this album. This is by far the best Seven Witches album released so far and it looks like there is no stopping them now!

Jack Frost’s ‘Seven Witches’ plays straight up ‘heavy fucking metal’ punters. Last years ‘A Passage to the Other Side’ was one of the true ‘classic metal’ albums of the year - it ripped from beginning to end. It smoked with killer riffs, a heavy as lead production – a mean brutal guitar sound and a thumping bass and percussion line. As far as I was concerned this new one, ‘Year of the Witch’ would be just as exciting. And it is!

With this being album No.5 for the band, it is interesting to note that Jack still can’t find a settled line up. Fortunately, he has kept vocalist-extraordinaire James Rivera (ex-Helstar) out front, but has replaced bassist Joey Vera with Dennis Hayes (ex-Winters Bane). Also gone is long time drummer Brian Craig. The kit duties for YOTW were performed by session-player Craig Anderson. However, it is clear that Jack and Rivera represent the core sound of Seven Witches and as such the line up changes don’t upset the overall package delivered here.

The great thing about Jack Frost is his absolute passion for the classic metal sound. He has this uncanny ability to write killer metal riffs and 80’s style anthems without crossing over into ‘cheese/cringe’ territory that some other metal acts suffer from at times (‘Primal Fear’ anyone?).‘Year of the Witch’ continues in the same tradition of ‘Passage..’ – it’s pretty much a metal anthem overload from the get go although there is a twist of sorts at the albums half way mark, where Jack opts for a darker ‘concept’ storyline to round it out. No need to worry much though folks - thematically Jack may be showing his more serious side with this concept idea, but the music still smokes in true JF riff fashion.

Recorded at the Mix-O-Lydian NJ studios, ‘YOTW’ has some great moments – I was initially a little disappointed that it may not be as strong as ‘Passage..’ however with repeated listening, it stands up extremely well. Jack Frost’s penchant for the metal anthem is clearly defined with the opening track ‘Metal Asylum’ – it could have easily appeared on Jack’s solo disc ‘Raise Your Fist to Metal’ such is it’s ‘metal celebration’ theme. This track is lyrically quite clever in its name checking of metal bands and classic ‘stage banter’ references throughout. It’s bordering on cheesy at times, but Jack has the ability to pull it off with an essential touch of cool.

Of course, no Seven Witches disc can be grilled without mentioning the vocal abilities of James Rivera. It seems Jack is happy with the guy also as this is the first album where he hasn’t changed his vocalist. Jack knows that Rivera is something special – he has the classic Halford high pitched scream meets a wicked Mustaine type snarl in the lower register. For emphasizing Jack’s powerful metal anthems, Rivera is simply perfect for the job.

Once again, Seven Witches have delivered. As most of you know, I am a child of the 80’s and that classic metal sound is perhaps my favorite style overall. Jack Frost has a great connection with the same era and his passion and love for the style drips from every part of the record. If you want straight up ball tearing metal, then get on board ‘YOTW’. All hail the Witches!