Burning Witches – Inquisition
Release Date: 22nd August 2025
Label: Napalm Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal, Speed Metal, Power Metal.
FFO: Judas Priest, Destruction, Iced Earth, Dio, Huntress, Doro.
Review By: Rick Farley
Swiss powerhouse heavy metal band Burning Witches, return with their sixth studio album, Inquisition, releasing via the mighty Napalm Records on August 22nd, 2025. Darker, heavier, and more ferocious than ever before, these ladies forged in the flames of traditional metal chaos, are diving headfirst into themes of medieval persecution, religious oppression, and the unbreakable spirit of resistance. Savage riffs, burning leads, thunderous drums and commanding vocals that range from sultry and soaring highs to raw, hair-raising coarseness. This is vibrant, anthemic heavy metal with booming low end and killer twin guitar attacks, capped off ruthlessly by the charismatic Laura Guldemond, who is at the very top of female singers who are complete vocal badasses. If you like your metal classic, scorching and fiercely hooky but still retains the nastiness needed to summon demons then Inquisition is definitely for you.
Founded in Brugg, Aargau, Switzerland by Guitarist/songwriter Romana Kalkuhl in 2015, along with bassist Jay Grob and drummer Lala Frischknecht, Burning Witches began their heavy metal journey releasing albums with various musicians before finding their current vocalist Laura Guldemond in 2019 and then enlisting the shredding guitars of Courtney Cox in 2023. The bands previous record The Dark Tower featured Courtney on three tracks as a guest guitarist, but Inquisition marks the first time where she is a permanent member.
With the line-up now in full force and firing on all cylinders, Burning Witches feels like a band reinvigorated. The two-headed guitar monster of Romana and Courtney is a reckless, fearless supercharged thrash fest full of razor sharp riffs and sickening shreds. The rhythm section from Jay and Lala holds the crushing weight down to an impenetrable foundation that’s powerful as well as it’s able to musically shift without compromise. From melodic to menacing, mystical balladry to heavy metal mayhem, Inquisition is a classic headbangers dream album.
Kicking off with the short one-minute intro Sanguini Hominum, it slowly builds from a low toned, Latin vocal chant to ominous instrumentation. The immediate eruption of galloping riffs and deadly double bass on Soul Eater wastes no time in bringing a merciless guitar beating straight to your face. Topped by an unsettling heavy, anthemic hair-raising chorus. Laura’s powerful, raspy highs equal that of Rob Halford in scary good fashion. It’s nearly world ending how fucking nasty this rips. Guaranteed horns up and face melted. The gritty heavy metal attack of hellacious catchiness and crunchy sorcery continue on the neck breaking Shame. Groovy and foot stomping, the track navigates silky melody, crisp tones, and deep low end with ease to engage the focus on songwriting more so than just to show the musicians chops. Which this brutish track also does in spades, just with a greater focus of composing engaging songwriting. Something that Inquisition seems to excel at besides just incredible performances is its ability to draw you in as a whole. The album feels complete, with any number of tracks that could end up being your favourite.
One track that kind of breaks up the two halves of the album with a little swaggering, mid-tempo rock energy mixed in with their classic metal is High Priestess of the Night. A galloping rhythm and fun, sing along style vocals has me feeling nostalgic like it’s 1987. As well as the heart-wrenching metal ballad Release Me, this album has more atmosphere and emotional depth than just relentless attacking. Don’t fret though, there’s plenty of that, probably more than your weak soul can even handle. The wizardry of the riffs alone could topple a building.
With tight booming production, killer artwork and epic classic metal, Inquisition is a no-brainer if you need an unapologetic shred fest, with chill inducing vocals and energetic riff laden battle hymns. Easy recommend.
(4 / 5)
