Sardonic Witchery – Barbaric Evil Power

The good thing about bands like Sardonic Witchery is that you know exactly what you’re going to get just by reading the album title and seeing the artwork. That certainly applies to ‘Barbaric Evil Power,’ the latest full-length from this Black Metal project which is spearheaded by one King Demogorgon since 2012. It’s as campy as campy can get (I mean, just look at that artwork…), and it delivers what it promises: balls-in-your-face Black Metal offered with no compromise.

Opening with a rather long intro (that’s luckily entertaining enough to sit through), Sardonic Witchery deals out banger after banger. If it’s straight-forward Black Metal you’re after, you’ve got it in this release. It’s hock-full of blast beats, double bass barrage and tremolo riffing. There were a number of tracks that stood out for me, such as the second track, ‘Sofrimento da Ordem do Tempo (Disciplina)’ which is sung in Portuguese – a nod to the band’s country of origin, Portugal. It’s always a treat to see bands stick to where they came from, long after they have departed those lands. The song transported me to a small underground venue, imagining the band perform it on stage as the crowd goes nuts in satanic frenzy.

If it weren’t for King Demogorgon’s skill at adding details to songs that make them listenable, ‘Barbaric Evil Power’ would have been a lackluster release. One thing which prevents this from happening is the rather tasteful soloing in every song. I really enjoyed them, and that doesn’t happen too often in Black Metal. The album also makes good use of clean vocals, without overdoing them. Just listen to ‘Barbaric Bastards of Mass Destruction,’ track #5. My favorite section of the entire album is without a doubt the track ‘Merciless Warrior of Steel’. Come on…how can a song with that title be bad? Just listen to where it gets to the 03:30 mark. The way that riff is delivered in thrash metal galore and later complimented by the solo is incredible to say the least.

After that, we get the album closer ‘Nocturnal Wanderer (Goddess of Desire)’. What…the…fuck? Sardonic Witchery surprises us with a mid-paced song that starts with bright keyboards and a spoken word section in Portuguese before really taking things off with the same brutality they started with. Almost their way of saying ‘Thank you for listening; wait for the next one!’ Alright, Sardonic Witchey. You have my interest!