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I've never been much of a fan of The Haunted, much preferring Witchery, a band that was often neglected in favour of The Haunted. Yep, I'm bitter. Anyway, it had been years since I had listened to anything by these guys and decided it was time to see if things have changed.

Musically, this is actually pretty good and less heavy and aggressive than I remembered, the band putting a lot of emphasis on melody in their songs, so in terms of thrash this is not the ass-kicking one might expect from the genre. This will likely appeal to those looking for more than straightforward thrash and for more variety.

The vocals are what still annoys me, a style that's somewhat core-ish, a turn off for many a metalhead. I was hoping for something different as I remember this being a personal sticking point in the past. While the music is good overall, it's hard to ignore the vocals. If you don't mind those, then there may be something you'll like here if you like some melody and melancholy in your thrash.

Just as I was going to write, "Just give me more Witchery, damn it!", a Witchery promo showed up in my e-mail. That's just how influential I am, people. ;)