After releasing their last record in 2004 and leaving fans waiting for five years, Witchmaster closed the gap in 2009 with an LP, an EP, and a compilation. Released in April 2009 under Agonia Records, Trücizna can be seen as the follow-up to Masochistic Devil Worship — a truly classic album.
Since their formation, Witchmaster has never compromised on their style or attitude. Each album delivers pure filth, pays respect to their predecessors with at least one cover track, yet the band has also faced various setbacks. Aside from previous studio misfortunes, the printing of Trücizna's cover had a mistake—track 6, "Back to the Bunker," was missing on the back cover. Despite this, the album itself remains outstanding, including its cover which I personally consider one of the best.
The album title Trücizna means "poison" in Polish, making the cover doubly appealing. Comprising 9 tracks and running about 30 minutes, the album is neither too short nor too long. Among these tracks is a cover: following their earlier tributes to Blasphemy's "Ritual," Sodom's "Blasphemer," Sarcofago's "Satanic Lust," and Venom's "Bloodlust," Witchmaster covers Sepultura's "Troops of Doom" here.
Tracklist:
Trücizna
Self-inflicted Divinity
Total Annihilation
Road to Treblinka
Two-point Suicide
Back to the Bunker
Bred in Captivity
Black Scum
Troops of Doom (Sepultura Cover)
As they define it themselves, this is a pure Old School Black/Thrashing Rock’n’Roll record. It features crazy rock’n’roll solos, classic hard rock-inspired riffs, plenty of thrash metal riffs, and Bastis’ black/thrash vocals, which lean more towards death metal on this album. The drums shift between tinny “tak tak” beats and blast beats, one of the album's defining features.
One of my favorite aspects of Witchmaster is that they aren’t just a regular black/thrash/death metal band—they incorporate plenty of speed and thrash metal influences, carrying a wild rock’n’roll spirit. This is strongly evident on Trücizna, probably even more than before. The riffs and solos are full of twisted, sharp bursts of sound, often short but always intense. Bastis delivers very aggressive, furious vocals, and his drumming shines with fast twin hits and blast beats that add both rawness and technical flair to the album’s structure.
Then there’s Geryon (Kali) on guitar. With his occasional classic speed riffs, necro black/thrash riffs, and nods to ’80s bestial black metal, along with his razor-sharp solos, he proves once again why he’s one of the most iconic guitarists in the scene.
Following the carnage of Masochistic Devil Worship, Witchmaster continue to crush everything in their path with Trücizna, an album that refuses to repeat itself, pushes the boundaries of grime, and demands attention. Definitely a must-listen.