Phantom Witch-s/t (EP)

Heavy Artilley
2008

This will actually be released as a six song vinyl only release with a limited number of 500 copies being pressed and the band will have a full length album out later this year as well. However, the band’s label has sent out a four song CD as I am assuming this is 2/3 of the upcoming EP. Okay, Phantom Witch hail from Indiana and I started hearing some buzz about them last year. It is immediately evident that they loved those days back in the mid-80’s when speed metal was a new phenomenon the style was pretty straight forward. That’s all well and good because I ate that stuff up back then and lived to hear every new leather studded bracelet and black band wearing shirt that popped up. However the genre progressed or at least many of the bands did after a short period of time. Phantom Witch have picked a spot around 1983-84 and that is straight where their sound comes from. More specificily the songs contained here are so Show no mercy/Haunting the chapel era Slayer that I can’t think of a whole lot else when I am listening to this. Hey, I loved that chapter in Slayer’s career probably more than most fans however Slayer quickly moved past it. Even the bands that were influenced by those Slayer albums back then moved past it rather quickly as well. Yet Phantom Witch seem to be approaching these album not as a stepping stone, but more as a script and they sticking to this script with little variation or ideas of their own. That’s the problem because although I liked this style over two decades ago, doing the same thing without adding any gusts, spurts or fragments of your own does not define your band. I realize there are bands today who sound like early 70’s metal and mid-80’s glam an indeed some of those bands sound like their idols without adding their own ideas. However this new wave of style thrash bands seem to be the biggest culprits for not adding anything to the mix. I don’t know why that is, but album after album of thrash re-hash seems to be causing me to see this current phase in that light. I am not going to write Phantom Witch off because the talent is obvious and so is their enthusiasm, but the ideas have been done and re-done and then some. If you like old style thrash then you may be absolutely thrilled by this one, if you already heard every speed metal band that’s come down the pike then this may not be for you.