From Bandcamp, “Primitive, Barbaric Black Metal Meets Avant-Garde Violin centered abstract concertos. The name DeathWytch is a character name from Orpheus’ Saga, brought to life by Sartoraaus. The lyrical theme is a fantastical impression to the mundanes, while also being a memorialization of Dragana’s Shamanka rituals; a deposition of the observer to her panic within the womb of this world as she reckons with the inevitable binding to death, whether it be eternal nightmare or blissful dream.” The album has eight songs.

“Plague of Hope” is the first cut. My immediate reaction is, what in the hell is this? The music is extremely amateur sounding and the accompanying strings almost sound circus like. The vocals took a bit to assimilate, because they are high pitched screams that you can barely hear. “Das Erwachen” is slower, and it still sounds like it was played and recorded in someone’s basement. This might be music, but that categorization is hanging like a thread. “Dein Opfer” has a little more connection between the strings and guitar, but overall, the music feels like it was recorded separately and then they tried to mash in together and the pieces don’t fit.

“Der Zauber” uses some more harrowing elements, particularly in the strings, and the song sounds a bit more put together. The background is full as well, but there is an abrupt ending. “Kalter Fluch” has an almost jazzy quality in the beginning, and the album is starting to pick up a bit, but soon thereafter, it becomes too dissonant. This is a very strange album in many senses of that phrase. “Todeshexe” is a short two-minutes of frightening sounds sandwiched between a thick riff that is blazing with effects. “Die Jagerib” is another slow, crushing sound that is augmented with laughter, and someone is delighting in your death it seems. The strings make more sense as well.

“Winds of Death” is the album closer, and it’s another deeply dissonant affair. Overall, the lingering question that I have is that taken as a whole the album is disjointed, and disconnected. I have to wonder, is this on purpose? I think it is, and although it had some good frightening sounds as Black Metal should, it was too amateur in the end.