Wow. The first thing to hit me after 'New World Plague' soars into my ears is just how tight these guys are. The expression "As tight as a gnat's arse" has never so truly been uttered. Witches' Sabbath have been around in some shape or form since 1997, and after a re-release of one of their demos as a debut album, this is their second attempt at world domination.

Musically, they very much remind me of The Chasm being involved in a very nasty accident with the black thrash of Aura Noir, with musicianship being highly technical throughout, with some really crunchy riffs and melodic streaks, all coated with thick breathy rasping vocals (which range from David Vincent, to Ihsahn, to Peter from Vader). There are also stacks of well recorded synthesizer work used throughout, which act not to suffocate songs, but to add width and greater aura to the atmosphere.

However, the band's use of clean vocals really sets my teeth on edge, as they seem to waver regularly out of tune and are unnecessarily placed throughout some of the song arrangements. In fact, I've not involuntarily flinched quite so much since last listening to some of Quorthon's (R.I.P) least well sung parts throughout the plethora of Bathory releases.

In my opinion, the most moan-worthy moment is the drum machine situation, which really needs attending to if the band hope to move onward and upward, as a human drummer could really add that extra spark missing in their sound, and help turn their good riffs into amazing riffs.

If Witches' Sabbath could just keep a stable line-up, leave the clean vocals for dead and hook up with a real drummer, they could really make a mark, but until then they stray only slightly above average in my estimations…