Burning Witches have never sounded quite like this. Six albums in, they’ve moved beyond the familiar label of “all-female power metal band” and dug into a heavier, darker pit that’s all their own. Inquisition feels like a record built from fire and stone - not polished for festivals, not designed for easy listening. It’s meant to hit, to linger, and to unsettle.
The opening track mutters in Latin before the guitars cut in, sharp and unrelenting. These riffs don’t gallop along predictably; they lurch and twist, sometimes catching you off guard. Drums strike hard, but there’s room for them to breathe, to hammer in pulses rather than continuous bursts. Bass lines anchor the songs with subtle weight, filling the space behind the guitars without overcomplicating the mix. It’s music built on texture as much as speed.
Romana’s guitar work is familiar but not static. You hear the echoes of Priest’s precision, Maiden’s harmonies, and Mercyful Fate’s eerie tones, but the execution here is darker. Solos flare and bend unexpectedly, sometimes bending into dissonance, sometimes spiraling like sparks from a forge. The effect is both immediate and unsettling, pulling the listener into the record’s tension.
Laura has grown into the role of more than vocalist. She shifts seamlessly from commanding lines to harsh, almost ragged shouts, often within a single phrase. Her delivery feels lived-in - human, sometimes imperfect - and it suits the themes of persecution, ritual, and resistance that run through the record.
The band does not lean on overproduced orchestration or artificial layers. Instead, the record builds atmosphere through pacing: sudden tempo changes, sparse passages that let riffs ring, and chanting that echoes in the mix as if in a cavern. The medieval imagery never feels staged; it is embedded in the music itself, giving the album weight beyond the notes.
Across twelve tracks, the album moves with purpose. Fast passages hit with precision, slower sections thicken the tension, and throughout the record there is a sense of deliberate pacing. By the close, the listener is left with something heavier than melody alone - a record that feels carved, lived, and hard-earned. Burning Witches here sound like a band fully inhabiting their own vision, unafraid of shadows and fully in control of their craft.
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