SPACE PARASITES are a Heavy / Thrash Metal band from Germany and were fully formed by a second guitarist in September 2020 after releasing a self-titled record "Raw and Brutal" in 2019 and an EP "A Date with Thrash Doctor" earlier in 2018. "The Spellbound Witch", their latest musical output is released by Iron Shield Records.

Discounting the short musical pieces "Intro" and "Outro" which bookend the album, we have here 8 tracks of unashamed heavy/thrash metal  that proudly wears its influences on its sleeve.

The first track "Crimson Eyes" starts off with some urgent guitar almost indicating the chaos to come. Some heavy guitar and pounding drums then ensue and then the vocals screech in. Screech is the appropriate word here as Nadine doesn't so much sing as screech. At first I thought the vocals had been speeded up by 1.5 but hell it's called "The Spellbound Witch" and even the promo calls SPACE PARASITES "Witch Metal" so I can't really criticise the vocals too much although it does jar with the music. Imagine the Witches in Macbeth singing "Hubble Bubble, Toil and Trouble" to a heavy metal beat and you're not too far off the vocal style.

"Rot in Hell" comes next with a very MEGADETH type vibe to the verse, but I did find the lead guitar a bit too scratchy on this track. The track is classic Heavy Metal and has some thunderous drum work courtesy of Willi, but the lead guitar spoilt the track for me.

"Cross the Line" starts with an echoey guitar intro before kicking ass with some great stop-start riffing on the verse which again reminded me of MEGADETH. Dave Mustaine would have been perfect for this track.

A killer bass ("Hi Bass...so nice to hear you") and thumping drums intro on "...And Again" lead to an unashamed Heavy Metal verse before speeding off into a more thrashier vein. Then it mellows with some METALLICAesque dual clean guitar which reminded me of "One" before blasting into a thrashier vibe with some great lead guitar. "Bury me under the ground and I'll stand up again...and again" screeches Nadine and I'm sure she would.

"Enter the Void" is pretty average but has some great dual guitar thrash in the middle of the track.

"The Spear" starts off quite ballady but leads into much heavier territory with a chorus that got me picturing a load of people drinking and lifting up their glasses in a toast to the carnage they'd just created. Then it develops into a fast thrashy lead guitar over a pounding rhythm and is one of my fave tracks on the album as is the cleverly titled "He-M-An". A cross between He-Man and Hu-Man but standing for Heavy Metal Animals with a chorus to die for that would just be great at a live gig.

"We are HEAVY...METAL...HEAVY METAL ANIMALS!" screeches Nadine with some great lyrics like

"We start your engines...full speed ahead...We blow your mind...We wake the dead"

It's just a great track but the last track "The Spellbound Witch" at over 6 mins long does drag with a fairly repetitive rhythm for over half the song and personally I think they should have ended on
"He-M-An".

If you can get past the witch-metal vocals (and I struggled on this), there is much to enjoy here. Musically the band are solid with a nice solid production and many of the songs make you want to headbang and punch your fists in the air. I've not heard much in the way of the German Thrash/Heavy Metal scene to be fair but on the strength of this, I will certainly make the effort.