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Canberra blues rockers Witchskull feature Joel Green of old-school death metal troupe Armoured Angel, whose basement-dwelling diatribes had children running to their mothers in the early 90s.

For some this might be enough to check out what demonic concoction the vocalist/sticksman is now involved in but TVED is a very different kettle of fish.

With lots of proto-metal groove and bluesy riffs their debut album is more a nod to the 70s than a hellish vision of the thrash/death scene. It’s only when Marcus De Pasquale (still active in rockers Looking Glass) takes hold with his occultish lyrics about witches, evil eyes and dying lovers that things get a bit creepy, but otherwise this is your standard, guitar-focused blues rock. At no point do Witchskull feel innovative or daring, but if this wasn’t their aim then they can depend on the talented fretwork of De Pasquale and his weirdly addictive strained crooning style to deliver work that passes the blues rock white-glove test.

With over 10 years’ experience writing for Metal Hammer and Prog, Holly has reviewed and interviewed a wealth of progressively-inclined noise mongers from around the world. A fearless voyager to the far sides of metal Holly loves nothing more than to check out London’s gig scene, from power to folk and a lot in between. When she’s not rocking out Holly enjoys being a mum to her daughter Violet and working as a high-flying marketer in the Big Smoke.