Imagine you stumble upon a dusty old DeLorean hidden somewhere. Now imagine you are able to get that trusty flux capacitor fully functional and, with a flash of lightning. Off you zoom to the past. You find yourself in the 80s. Remember (really big) long hair, black concert shirts with the sleeves and collars cut off, and black high tops? Somewhere amid all that bad hair and other things we might rather forget is a lost treasure. Well, that's what "Witching Metal Ritual" sounds like anyway; old school hard, grinding Metal.

WITCHES MARK, a band named after the mythical 'numb spot' that supposedly marked one as Satan's, brings their 'A' game with this debut album. From the opening track, "Bringers of Heavy Metal Death", WITCHES MARK lets you know where they stand on their music. This band has put together a 'call-to-arms' for devotees and dilatants alike, blending Black / Thrash / Speed Metal and some Doom with underpinnings of classic Heavy Metal.

WITCHES MARK is out of Austin, Texas. It's hard to imagine this is their debut album, but knowing this makes it even more exciting to see what the future will deliver from these heavy hitters. Metal fans won't be disappointed with the guest appearances. Ross Friedman (MANOWAR), Jason McMaster (DANGEROUS TOYS), Jack Starr (VIRGIN STEELE / BURNING STARR), and Martin Debourge (DAMIAN THRONE / HEAD TRANSFER PROCESS) are among contributors. Pretty impressive for a debut album.

This album is packed with eardrum melting screams, insane guitars and drums, and put together in one tight, well arranged package. Crammed with heart racing speed, this whole album contains one track after another of raw speed and thrashes Metal at its old school finest. It's everything great when you think of old school Thrash Metal, and surprising in some ways that it's new.