On May 28th, 2021, the Swiss/Dutch Heavy Metal band Burning Witches staged an official album release show for the world via livestream in celebration of their latest record, The Witch of the North, out now on Nuclear Blast. Burning Witches, with their current lineup consisting of Laura Guldemond (Vocals), Romana Kalkuhl (Guitar), Jeanine Grob (Bass), Lala Frischknecht (Drums), and Larissa Ernst (Guitar), showcased live performances of songs off the brand-new The Witch of the North, while also revisiting previous albums, Dance With The Devil (2020), Hexenhammer (2018), and the self-titled 2017 debut, Burning Witches.

• 

• 

The eerie yet ancient entrance music of “The Witch of The North” greeted us as the ladies of Burning Witches took their places on the stage, before launching full-force like a wildfire to show us all just what Burning Witches is all about. Up next, “Wings of Steel”, with an energetic full-power intro reminiscent of traditional speed/power metal that followed through with the same energy to the end. 

“Necronomicon” gives us a jolting, wailing guitar intro ominous enough for a song which personifies an ancient text into an unseen entity, while “Lucid Nightmare”, performed live, felt reminiscent of traditional thrash with an almost Exodus-like vibe, from the gritty shrieking vocals, right down to the evil laughter and rough riffs. Guitarists Romana and Larissa traded solos on this track for an inescapable sonic attack.

The anthemic “We Stand As One” is a metal song of the traditional arena sing-along sort, and once this album makes its way to being played before a live audience, no doubt that is precisely what will happen. A steady, belligerent beat from drummer Lala provides the landscape, and with lyrics like “Heavy Metal is our way, loud and fast is what we want, we stand as one”, it’s not hard to guess that Burning Witches is strong in staying true to their roots and influences.

• 

• 

The show continued with “Sea of Lies” off 2020’s Dance With The Devil, which was proof enough that there’s no “lies” about the band’s talents by this point. A rhythmic hooky riff pulls you in before Lala kicks in and brings it to the pace already set by the Witches in speed metal style. Bassist Janine particularly shone on this one, not only keeping a pulsating low-end for the whole track but venturing into the higher register of the instrument to generate the extra bit of energy this song deserves. “Lady Of The Woods”, off the new album, slowed things down and allowed a breather from the heavy metal attack for just a few moments, while also showing off the lower register of Laura’s live vocals. The air of mystery in the track mesmerizes the senses like the spells of the “Lady” herself.

• 

• 

If you took a moment to relax during the previous song, “Dance With The Devil” (2020) brought the energy right back up again, featuring some of the more pleasantly melodic riffs of the band’s repertoire, a dip into major-key melodies, and even a touch of Maiden-esque galloping rhythms. I’m sure it wasn’t just me who felt a distinctively 80’s Hard Rock energy in this track. While pondering the past, bells, a thunderstorm, and haunting screams and sounds of torture interjected to introduce the next song, “Hexenhammer”, a well-known track from the Burning Witches discography, and title track off the 2018 album of the same name. Laura puts her own unique touch on it, but still resonates with the same energy of the whole performance, in line with the 2021 vibe of Burning Witches. Newest guitarist Larissa also kept things up to speed with steady arpeggiated riffing and soloing – if perhaps, this was her first time officially playing it live, not a soul might have guessed it. 

Next up was “Flight Of The Valkyries” (2021), because where would any traditional-style heavy metal band be without at least one mention of dear Valhalla? Frontwoman – or should I say Frontwitch – Laura momentarily vanished behind the on-stage cauldron to allow guitarists Romana and Larissa to shine with a twin guitar attack that truly does take flight. 

• 

• 

With “Black Widow”, we revisited the first track off the band’s self-titled debut from 2017, ripping through metallic riffing as the band gets ready to wrap it all up. Finally, what better way for Burning Witches to close off their concert than with a song named after themselves? “Burning Witches” also comes off the 2017 debut, and serves as a real headbanging anthem to leave us satisfied with what we just watched, yet excited for more. 

In spite of playing to an entirely virtual crowd, the women of Burning Witches did not hold back for even a moment in giving a full live performance experience, and even expressing gratitude to their invisible audience. The talents of Burning Witches were supplemented with great visuals, high sound quality, and effective cinematography on the livestream hosted by Live4You! A full-production stage set came equipped with cauldrons and all the necessary accouterments for a band with “witch” in their moniker, and an illustrated backdrop transformed visuals throughout to match each album cover accordingly.

There’s clearly no mistaking where the band’s influences originate, but rather than rehashing or imitating what’s been done before, they put their own unique touch and spin on traditional heavy metal sonic notions and bring us the fantastic songwriting of Burning Witches in 2021. We may have had a long time off from seeing live shows in-person, but they’re bound to return any day now – make sure you catch this fresh, strong, new energy of modern heavy metal live as soon as they hit your part of the world. 

——
(All Photos are Screenshots taken during livestream hosted by “Live4You!”.)

Follow Burning Witches here: https://www.burningwitches.ch

Find the new album in physical form, alongside plenty of merch, via the Nuclear Blast Store here.

For the US merch link, click here.

Find the new album The Witch Of The North digitally here (affiliate link).