Of Holy Whores and Hellcults

Bewitched - Atrocities In A Minor

With the ubiquitous nature of black/thrash hybrids, retro-thrash, and '80s thrash emulation/glorification/fellation in metal nowadays, it seems almost odd to recall that Diabolical Desecration was an album that spearheaded* that movement.  I remember it being equally revered and reviled--the most common gripe by detractors being the, uh, likeness of the beginning of "Hard as Steel (Hot as Hell)" to Mercyful Fate's "Curse of the Pharaohs."  Still, it was a trendsetter, and thus a bandwagon--one with Osmose and Necropolis signees largely spoking the wheels--opened the floodgates, followed by a deluge that still has no end in sight.  All that, and they also helped to nudge Thor and (especially) Black Widow back towards the forefront of the collective metal consciousness.**

Being the timely fellow I am, I just bought their 2004 EP, consisting of 3 studio recordings (1 new song and 2 re-records) and 3 live tracks from 2002.  No surprises to be found here; the new song "The Devil's Children" is a pleasant thrasher that's right in line with their post-debut material.  Not extraordinary, but one of their better songs overall.  The rest of the EP isn't bad quality-wise, but it's honestly just filler.  Those looking for live Bewitched material would be better served by Hell Comes to Essen unless you are hellbent on hearing "Rise of the Antichrist" or "Born of Flames" live. 

Comparing the newer live and studio versions of the Diabolical Desecration tracks to the originals, they aren't that different, but they're a good summary of the band's overall sound change; after Blackheim's departure, there seemed to be a greater tendency towards rock'n'roll-based song construction, and some of the black and classic metal subtleties of the debut were lost to a thrashier sound.

*Yes, there were non-demo "retro" releases prior to '96, but let's face it--Gehennah were in another league entirely and a lot of the Aura Noir mCD is undiluted black metal.  Neither of them had the level of reception Bewitched did anyway.  I recall Infernö's Utter Hell coming out at the same time as Diabolical Desecration, but again, it didn't have the same impact (most people hated it.  I didn't, go figure), so whichever came first is irrelevant.

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