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DUNWICH RITUAL
The Weird Tapes Sessions

Jawbreaker (2024)
Rating: 7.5/10

When I first saw the cover and band name I thought this might be another of those dull sludge stoner fests, but imagine my surprise when I pushed play and was introduced to a zipping French speed metal act. The vocals of fiery femme fatale Věga are slightly off but it adds an obscure charm to proceedings as the combo rattles off a bucket load of hasty numbers.

When you hear ‘Hyperborean Rites’ one imagines Věga being better suited to a doom metal act because her languid style sort of floats above the scurrying riffs and the skirmish of bass and drum. The theme remains as ‘The Sinking City’ busily squirms in complete contrast to the almost hauntingly calm vocal wafts. It’s certainly a strange brew of styles which makes for an oddly engaging affair. And I really enjoy the sniping guitar tone of Thosz, particularly on the punky vibe of ‘Paleogean Megalopolis’.

Although essentially speed metal, there are those occasional punky drifts and the band isn’t a stranger to the rawer end of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal scene either. For example, check out the sinister, almost melancholic plod of namesake track ‘Dunwich Ritual’ or the more traditional vim of ‘Winged Death (1934)’. So, there is variety present, culminating in the unorthodox closer ‘Spectral Dust / The Horror’, a lengthy yet atmospheric heap of Euro Goth metal that brings leaden skies with its mesmerising vapours and dreamy gloom.

The Weird Tapes Sessions is somewhat of a hidden gem as Dunwich Ritual creak and groan in all the right places. Of course, such contrasts within may not sit right with some but I dare you not to fall for the eccentricities of such a release.

Neil Arnold

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