Walpurgis Night - or Witchburning - is the night of May Day when witches gather and celebrate a festival to dance with the devil.
A night of occult magic and mystical rites. Walpurgis night is also the title of the latest EP by Italian doomster Black Spell, whose music sounds like an occult-mystical feast for the devil. Black Spell wastes no time - Since 2020 the band has released 2 albums and one EP. The latest release includes 4 songs but not all are new.
The first song, the title track, was already on their 2021 album "The Purple Skull" and is mixed just a little differently than it was on the single. Nonetheless, one of the band's best songs. Song 2 "Doom Mantia" is a tribute to the doom grandmasters Electric Wizard. A great song that sounds even more evil in the Black Spell version. Fans will remember that the song was already on the B-side of the 2021 single.
At Hell's Gates / Infernal Power is the first new song on the EP. A nasty hunk of fuzzy psychedelic doom with distorted vocals. Towards the end everything descends into chaos and the Hammond organ completes the whole thing. When I first heard it, I thought of the stories of H.P. Lovecraft when he writes about madness.
The title of the final track "Satan's Claws" reminded me of the horror classic "Blood on Satan's Claw" from 1971. For me the best song on the EP. Fuzzy doom, tormented-distorted vocals, the insane organ returns. the song has everything you would expect from this band.
Walpurgis Night does everything right and even if not everything is new, it is another highlight in the band's discography. I recommend it to anyone's dark rotten heart who loves bands like Electric Wizard, 1982, Wizard Master and The Crooked Whispers.
-Helge Neumann
