Metal Riot

Cleveland’s Ringworm are more hardcore than metal, but the ferocity of discography and consistent hard work year after year rewards them pure metal status. Not to mention, have you heard 2014’s metalcore title holder Hammer Of The Witch? Ringworm today are as angry and relevant as ever.

There is a healing image spell  used in practical Witchcraft that involves creating a wax or cloth poppet to represent the person you wish good intentions towards. You don’t represent the problem, rather the image of the solution is created.  Cast a circle and light a blue candle. Sprinkle the doll with salt water. Well, the spell goes on from there with positive intent. The new Ringworm album Hammer of the Witch, on the other hand, will leave non believers  as a steaming crater of human afterthought. You will need self healing from self inflicted mosh trauma after hearing tracks like the pulverizing slow death rattle of “Leave Your Skin At The Door” or “Dawn of Decay”‘s declaration of malicious intent.

13 tracks of pure ferocity showcase that Cleveland’s finest musical export (well, except for Denny Blaze) are as strong as ever. I was a bit surprised that this new album came so hot on the heels of Bleed, but none of this is rushed. If anything, Human Furnace and co. are at the top of their game. Granted, occult imagery is more rampant in metal and hardcore than ever,  to the point where you can’t shake a smudge stick at a bunch of average dudes in sweatshirts who for some reason use upside down crosses or Wiccan ritual symbols on their album art. Shit, every other day a new band of 70’s throwbacks with female witch vocals comes out as well. This is not necessarily bad as “Black Hexen Rise” by Integrity or the nuanced music of Blood Ceremony proves, but sometimes it is just a bandwagon. Ringworm have never had artwork like Hammer of the Witch before, and I don’t know what it has to do with the rage fest on here that seems pretty embedded in urban reality and the brutality of the modern age, but I’m not complaining. The artwork is dope and the record kills.

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