With summer winding down and festival season drawing to a close, this year’s tidal wave of album releases continues on at a frantic pace. Not to be lost in the chaotic shuffle of LP’s, EP’s, live albums and compilations, the all-ladies Heavy Metal powerhouse, Burning Witches return with their latest full-length masterpiece: Inquisition. Building and expanding upon the foundation of their previous efforts, Inquisition is Burning Witches’ most refined and cohesive work to date; with noticeably less instrumental interludes and sound bytes.Spearheaded by the additions of talented and darkly seductive front woman, Laura Guldamond and blazing six-string sorceress, Courtney Cox, Burning Witches have rightfully put the world of Heavy Metal on notice. Indeed, far more than a mere homage to the Metal titans of the 80’s; Inquisition is a charging, steel-plated destrier, poised to carry the flag of Heavy Metal well into the next generation.

The opening track, ‘Sanguini Hominum’, is a short but effective tone setter that fits the Burning Witches blueprint of starting albums with a dark, yet epic mood. It leads directly into the face-ripping ‘Soul Eater’, which begins a ten song blitz of 80’s influenced, Euro-style classic Heavy Metal in the vein of Dio, Warlock, and Judas Priest.

But Inquisition is so much more than just a nostalgia trip for lifelong Metalheads. While old-school Metal fans will doubtless appreciate the anthemic choruses and soaring vocals of tracks like ‘The Spell of the Skull’ and ‘High Priestess of the Night’; Thrash and Power Metal fans will enjoy the savage riffing of ‘Shame’ and ‘Burn in Hell’. Inquisition has a little something to offer everyone; rewarding fans with a triumphant Metal joyride while maintaining that darker, heavier undertone that makes Burning Witches something truly special.

A definite highlight of Inquisition is the aforementioned ‘Shame’. With it’s crushing guitar riffs and earth-shaking rhythm section, ‘Shame’ stands out as being one of the heaviest tracks on the album. While being one of the shorter tracks on Inquisition, makes up for it’s relative brevity with uncompromising heaviness.

The title track of Inquisition might very well be the best track of the entire album. ‘Inquisition’ has all of the elements that make Burning Witches great: stellar leads, catchy riffs, thunderous bass and drum work, aggressive vocals, and all the atmospheric elements that one would come to expect from this band. Laura, as usual, is in a league of her own here. While she may not display the range or vocal acrobatics of her more operatic peers; Laura sings with a grittiness, intensity, and power unmatched by any of them.

The slow and soulful ‘Release Me’ is the lone ballad of the album. Laura takes a bit of the edge off of her delivery here, while still maintaining her trademark grit and passion. As ballads go, it’s one of the better ones out there and it’s not a stretch to see this one making it into their live set. One can easily imagine the lighters (ok, ok… cell phones) in the air as the opening notes of ‘Release Me’ carry through the air of a darkened venue.

Burning Witches kick things back into high gear with ‘In for the Kill’. Driven forward by the up-tempo drum work of Lala Frischknecht, ‘In for the Kill’ is a true banger that alternates between thrashy riffs and neck-stomping break downs. This track is pure crowd pleasing Metal, made for the pit. It would be surprising if ‘In for the Kill’ did not become a single at some point in the near future.

In closing with the tracks ‘Mirror, Mirror’ and the darkly atmosphericoutro, ‘Malus Maga’, Burning Witches put their stamp on yet another stalwart album that should grace every Heavy Metal fan’s collection this year. ‘Mirror, Mirror’ in particular, with it’s catchy guitar work and memorable chorus is a powerful anthem that the Metal Gods of years past will no doubt look upon with fondness and great pride.

From start to finish, Inquisition is an excellently written and well-produced album that heralds an exciting future for Heavy Metal; while paying deepest respects to the genre’s storied past. With Inquisition, Burning Witches have proven yet again that they are a force to be reckoned with. These talented young ladies should be proud of the hard work they’ve put into this release, and excited to hit the road and bring Inquisition to the waiting Metal masses.Inquisition is set for release on 8/22/25 via Napalm Records