HELLWITCH — Nosferatu (review)

HELLWITCH — Nosferatu album cover Demo · 1984 · Technical Thrash Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
1.5/5 ·
UMUR
"Nosferatu" is the first demo recording by US, Florida based death/thrash metal act Hellwitch. The demo was independently released in 1984. It´s the band´s first output after forming earlier the same year. The demo only feautures one track, and at this point Hellwitch was only a duo of Patrick Ranieri on guitars and Harry Tyler on drums and vocals. Various sources say though that the drums on the demo aren´t really drums. They are just objects (cushions and books) being hit which were in the room where the demo was recorded (probably live on a tape recorder in the middle of the room).

Considering that rather primitive recording technique, the sound quality is surprisingly good. The "drums" are buried beneath the guitar and the vocals, but you can easily make out the blueprint of the "Nosferatu" track which eventually would be re-recorded and included on Hellwitch´s debut full-length studio album "Syzygial Miscreancy" (Wild Rags Records, December 1990). Before that it had however already been re-recorded and included on the January 1986 "Transgressive Sentience" demo. So this was obviously a track the band were very proud of and wanted their audience to hear.

Stylistically this is pretty much Hellwitch as they still sound now almost 40 years down the line. Energetic and aggressive speed/thrash metal delivered with great technical skill. The touch of death metal which Hellwitch music occasionally features would be added later on the band´s career. Upon conclusion "Nosferatu" isn´t a demo you put on for listening pleasure. It´s a historical document showing the early extreme metal roots of the Florida music scene. Other artists active around this time were Executioner (later Xecutioner and even later Obituary), Mantas/Death, Massacre, R.A.V.A.G.E. (later Atheist), and of course Morbid Angel, and while Hellwitch may not often be mentioned among the seminal extreme metal acts from Florida like the other mentioned artists are, they arguably deserve that tag too. A 1.5 star (30%) rating is warranted.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Rot Stink Rip Death Metal
TOMBSTONER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Human Rosin Melodic Metalcore
HATE BREEDER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Through The Hell Hardcore Punk
ENEMY 906
Buy this album from MMA partners
Lightmatter: Rebirth Deathcore
EARTHGAZER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Eye Of Horus (Lightmatter EP Pt. 2) Deathcore
EARTHGAZER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Agremorta - Adrocitas (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 5 days ago
Agremorta - Ploratus Umbra (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 5 days ago
Agremorta - Vertex Membrana (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 5 days ago
HAIL SPIRIT NOIR - The Temple Of Curved Space (Official Track Stream)
HAIL SPIRIT NOIR
adg211288· 5 days ago
In Sulfur - The Gate (OFFICIAL VIDEO) 2022
IN SULFUR
Bosh66· 6 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed