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HELLWITCH
Annihilational Intercention

Listenable (2023)
Rating: 9/10

I must be forgiven firstly for not following the return of Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based thrashers Hellwitch who, after splitting in the late 90s, came back in 2005 with an EP and then four years later their second full-length. Secondly, I must also be forgiven for never being able to pronounce their album titles; Syzygial Miscreancy (1990), Omnipotent Convocation (2009) and now Annihilational Intercention.

If you think you know thrash then prepare to be shredded to pieces by the staggering wizardry of ‘Delegated Disruption’, an absolute smorgasbord of technical axe work culled with a percussive display of the highest order as the band merges to construct a ripping force of devilish swagger and bewildering complexity. But the main aim here is to tear new orifices and Hellwitch do exactly that with each blistering track.

Opener ‘Solipsistic Immortality’ brings infinite barrages of intricacy and sneering vocals from mainman Pat Ranieri whose attack is a veritable feast of spits and hostile yaps. The percussion of Brian Wilson is to be applauded as he rains down tricky taps, scowling slaps and a general overload of high speed assaults.

Annihilational Intercention is a record that just acts like a seething whirlwind armed with barbs, thorns and spikes – a blizzard of concise and perfectly constructed algorithms. The relentless namesake track ‘Hellwitch’, the fizzing ‘At Rest’ and the intricately crafted ‘Anthropophagi’ take the mocking and abrasive tones of Sadus but add further layers of complicated musing and thrashing. For over 40 minutes the listener is overloaded and overwhelmed by this dizzying thrash colossus until the cranium is splintered and eventually shattered into a million shards.

It’s probably to the benefit of all that Hellwitch albums are few and far between because not many of us can cope with such lethal torrents. I decided that after the initial onslaught to instead try to concentrate on each and individual instrument so as not to become so overwhelmed by the velocity of this tour de force. Only then could I fully decipher the tangled mess this album had caused my brain to be. I knew Hellwitch were on the horizon and I should have prepared for such stinging potency, but when it hits it really does mangle.

Neil Arnold

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