EP Review – The Witch’s Curse by Dream Troll (Self Released)

Epic British metallers, Dream Troll, are back with a new release. That release is an EP called The Witch’s Curse. It will be released independently and is available for mass consumption on the 2nd of February this year.

The Leeds based metal warriors are a big favourite of GBHBL. I personally think they are phenomenal and can’t wait for the day they venture to London for a gig. I was absolutely hooked after hearing their insanely good debut, The Knight of Rebellion. You can read our thoughts on that album here. Needless to say, it is great. To say I was excited about the announcement for a new EP in The Witch’s Curse would be an understatement. That excitement was pushed up another level after the release of the first single from it in The Battle for Enki’s Tower. You can read about that here. It didn’t disappoint.

Dream Troll switched the line up a bit after The Knight of Rebellion. The line up for The Witch’s Curse is Paul Walsh on vocals and Paul Carter is on bass. Another Paul, Thornton this time, is on the bass and then we have two non Pauls. Simon Blakelock is on the drums and Matt Baldwinson is also on guitars.

On to the EP, The Witch’s Curse. There are three songs in total on The Witch’s Curse. The Battle for Enki’s Tower is one of them so that gives me two new songs to sink my teeth in to. Three songs might not seem a lot but there is plenty of music here starting with the excellent 8 and a half minute long In The Name of Isabella. A dark and sombre story is told in almost spoken word over a little chugging line. It builds into into a crescendo of metal with a wicked guitar line and drum beat. In The Name of Isabella has a really unorthodox and exciting structure to it as it moves through verses and into a catchy chorus.

Occasional sections of spoken word mix with powerfully sung sections, all interspersed by supremely listenable guitar lines and riffs. It is impossible not to enjoy. Track 2 is The Battle for Enki’s Tower. I have already written about this, and my love for it, so suffice to say that for a budding air guitarist like myself, it is a joy to listen to. A fast and fun homage to all that is great in metal.

The third and final track on the EP is called Blood Moon and is 7 and a half minutes long. The guitars in the intro are excellent and there is nice tempo to the drums and vocals as the verse kicks in. The vocals switch to a muffled style as a gentle drum pattern is mixed with short but ferocious blast beats. Those blasts are repeated throughout the song and sound brilliantly heavy. Tons of guitars, a melodic section with some of the more powerfully sung vocal lines on the EP adds a little extra touch of epic to this excellent closing song.

For a three track EP, you get well over twenty minutes of music making The Witch’s Curse longer than a lot of the death core albums I have reviewed. Epic, in song length, but also epic in song quality. Listening to Dream Troll just brings a big beaming smile to my face. I love their music. They are supremely talented musicians but also extremely clever in regards to the song structures and lyrical content. Each one taking you on a fantastical journey through a mythical world. Heroic stories, head banging riffs, powerful drums and brilliant singing – this is heavy metal.

Do yourself a favour and head over to Dream Troll’s Bandcamp page and preorder the album, either digitally or on a cool looking vinyl effect CD. You could also grab The Knight of Rebellion and some merch while you are there. You can also grab some of their music from the Amazon links below. Find out more about Dream Troll on Bandcamp, on Twitter and on Facebook. Be sure to like and follow them while you are there.

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