A female fronted band called Castle is about to release this great album called In Witch Order at the 6th of May on Van Records. The singer has this grimy sneering accent that makes Castle all the more thrilling to listen to. The sound on In Witch Order is actually pretty raw & straightforward, without ever disappointing. The reason I like stuff like Mountain Goats and Neutral Milk Hotel is the strong way of communication: listening to them is realizing – these guys are for real. They sing their guts out, as if their life depended on it. I have the same sentiment with Castle. It’s totally convincing, and track number one through track number eleven will keep you captivated & occupied. The overall sound is quite melodic, and the 2nd (male) singer does add a lot to the stellar performance of the female vocalist. I like the clean, almost nineties hardcore guitar sound especially, reminds me sometimes of certain chugga-chugga Victory Records bands. Anyhow, back to In Witch Order.

 

There’s not a lot I can tell you about Castle really. They’re from San Francisco, and my guess this is their actual debut. I can’t find any interviews they’d done, so we’d be honored to do one of course. What can I say, In Witch Order is as strong as it is fun to listen to, and this is a release that’ll keep püre metalheads, stoners & doomsters alike satisfied. Vocalist Elizabeth Blackwell’s voice is pretty sexy, and you don’t find that a lot in female vocals nowadays, do you? Come to think of it, this is a pretty ‘metal’ release in all its aspects: swift & strong but it has enough doomy accents & haunted, occulted atmospheres to keep the doom flag alive..

  

Decent Of Man loosens up the joints for an all metal experience. Yep, she sure has a voice that will make you listen. Fire In The Sky and Slaves Of The Pharao are two great tracks, the latter has a bit of a Maiden influence in it. Knife In The Temple is pure evil! Lost Queen is a totally awesome track, but following track Shaman Wars also kicks royal ass. Closing track Devil’s Castle is a track as A quality as the first track, so you can delve in this album at any given track. So, this release basically leaves us with a motherload of great, occult flavored tracks. In my book, that’s a royal 9. In which order? In Witch Order! 

 

Enjoy Total Betrayal here: YouTube Video 

Review Written By Sandrijn van den Oever