70000TONS 2018 HIGHLIGHT : WITCHERY
Without repeating myself, I can say that I enjoy 70000 Tons of Metal most when seeing bands I was never able to see before. Witchery has been around for many moons, but as I mentioned in the past, I found myself hopping onto the Witchery train quite a bit later, so it was my first go at seeing the Swedish band. How I found myself impatiently standing in the front row of the Pyramid Lounge on the first night of this year’s cruise!
Witchery crammed their 5-piece onto the tiny stage and left nothing but destruction and happy fans in their wake. With Sharlee D’Angelo being busy with Arch Enemy at the time of the cruise, Witchery brought their best stand-in with them, Victor Brandt (Entombed AD), which was a nice surprise. They played a fast, hard and raw set of mostly newer songs but fitting in some older goodies like “The Reaper”. Speaking of new, it turns out the new(-ish) singer Angus Norder is not only a perfect addition to the band on record, but also a great frontman!
That was made especially clear during their second set which was in a much bigger venue, on a bigger stage with a lot more room for play. With the tall, funeral suit-clad Angus hissing and towering over the crowd like a morbid metal Jack Skellington, and the band maniacally playing besides him, that second set was a sight to behold. They even managed to up the ante by playing their most beloved song ,“Witchkrieg”, which they had mysteriously left out of their first night’s set.
Witchery was one of my must-see double-setters this year, and I am happy I managed to make the time to see them twice, because they certainly did not disappoint and probably came off the boat with a whole new horde of fans because I sure did see a LOT of brand new Witchery shirts on the boat following their first set!
