Polish black metallers WITCHFUCK, courtesy of Godz ov War Productions, dish out a thunderous debut which sits, stylistically, in a delightful intersection between a classic black metal sound with just a dash of thrash. All the dissonance of black metal is here, but with chugging guitar tones that would be familiar to your average thrash act.

The album opens with "March Of Doom", a synth track that for all the world like it's come out of the soundtrack for an 80's zombie flick - a delightful piece of nostalgia, the 80's are oh-so-fashionable these days! "Black Blood Baptism" commences with all the distressed and discordant tremolo-picking and blastbeats one expects from this genre, and it kicks off with a bang. The drumming is tight, the vocals grating, and the guitars dealing out dissonance and brutality in all the right ways.

"Unicestwienie" continues much in this vein - more distressed guitar tones and chords continue to disturb the listener. "Sulfur Goat", short and sweet in length, has more of a thrash feel about it, inserting even quite a tasty solo section in the opening. "The Horned Archangel" contains much of the finest black metal on the record, from full and dissonant guitar chords to suggestions of De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas era MAYHEM. "Pentagram In Fire" is a moody piece, bouncing between tempos both thrashy and black - there's plenty here to enjoy. In "The Pagan Storm" we have another 80's vibe synth track, complete with wind effects - delightfully retro!

"Hailing To The Stars" feels distinctly punky. The expected blastbeats and discordant tremolo-riffing is there, but with a foundation that sounds like if groups like the MISFITS carried their particular brand of darkness a bit farther. "Into The Fathomless" feels like the most ambitious track here. There's lots of interesting diversions, twists and turns that force you to really listen hard to keep track of what is going on - there's even a brief, yet tasty, solo towards the end! "Dar" commences in much more of the fashion we have grown used to by this point. Rather lacking in subtlety, but be honest here, that's not what we expect (or want) from black metal!

"Sabbath Of Unholy Lust" gave me chills, taking me right back to the very early days of that bubbling pot of black/death/thrash so exemplified by albums like SEPULTURA'S Morbid Visions - it's a pretty close approximation actually! The album closes with a cover of BEHEMOTH'S "Pure Evil And Hate". This reeks of reverence and respect for their fellow countrymen: quite simply it's a belter of a cover, and a stomping finale!

WITCHFUCK have aimed high and hit their target. There is much here to enjoy for both the casual and hardcore fan of black metal. On their debut they have set the bar high for themselves, and I sincerely hope they can keep up this standard, if not smash it right out of the park!Score: 7