Burning Witches - "The Dark Tower"

I really wanted to love this

Burning Witches is an all-fem Swiss metal band, mixing classic heavy/hair metal vibes with power metal. Sometimes they sound like Iron Maiden, sometimes like AC/DC, and their material is on the same level of epic fantasy darkness as Iced Earth.

And writing that summary just makes them sound like an inherently interesting band, doesn’t it?

The thing that the band manages to achieve here, that I’m struggling to come to grips with, is how they can have so much diversity in their sound and style, and yet sound exactly the same throughout the album with rare exception. Within individual tracks and across the album as a whole. I shouldn’t be getting bored. And I think that this is one of the dangers of bands who aim for a ‘classical return’ sound. Genres evolve and music continues to change and diversify for reasons. Stagnant genres die. It’s tough trying to utilize older sounds and not sound like you’re just out of place or a stereotype.

And this is honestly kinda painful. The band looks like exactly the kind of band I want to listen to. They’ve got the talent. It’s just…bland. And maybe it’s because they just churn them out, effectively - the band’s first album released in 2017, and this album, “The Dark Tower”, is their fifth.

I couldn’t get through my second listen.

Rating: Orange