Bütcher is a speed metal band from Belgium formed in 2014, releasing three albums to date – ‘Bestial Fükkin’ Warmachine’ (2017), ‘666 Goats Carry My Chariot’ (2020), and ‘On Fowl Of Tyrant Wing’ (2024).
Boasting a sound that combines the band’s root speed metal leanings with black, death, and traditional metal, Bütcher is a phenomenal force of nature, devastating landscapes and airways with a ferocity that makes a prime-time Mike Tyson look tame! The aggression and menace on the show is terrifying, the band howling and scowling their way through the eight songs on offer in forty-four ferocious minutes – the one-minute instrumental ‘A Divine Wind’ building a cacophonous crescendo ready for the band to unleash speed metal heaven upon everyone, ‘Speed Metal Samurai’ surging forth at tremendously high velocity! The pace, power and purpose are phenomenal, ‘Speed Metal Samurai’ rocking the heads of every listener, fan and follower back and forth at an extremely high rate of knots!
A sensational opening salvo to set your new album on its way, Bütcher are on fucking fire as ‘Blessed By The Blade’ cruises in to maintain ‘On Fowl Of Tyrant Wing’s incredible start – the speed actually increasing from the previous song! The raucous, raw energy across the album’s first two songs is all-consuming, the Belgian speedsters breaking the sound barrier with consummate ease, every listener floored by the sheer ferocity pouring outta the album – ferocity that’s only gonna get stronger and stronger as the band storm on with ‘Koraktor’s Iron Rule’. And another increase in speed too, Bütcher leaving the sound barrier way behind and gunning for the speed of light now – and at 186,000 miles per second the speed of light is fast, but then so is ‘Koraktor’s Iron Rule’. Come on Bütcher, you can do it! The Belgian five-piece have roared across metal territory since ‘On Fowl Of Tyrant Wing’ began, devastating everything in sight, raising the speed even higher with the speed of light beating ‘Keep The Steele (Flamin’ Hot)’. I knew Bütcher could do it. The album’s rocketed by so fast it’s been difficult to catch a breath, the band an unrelenting and unforgiving speed metal machine with just one mission – to deliver high-velocity heavy metal at neck-breaking speeds! Mission accomplished with energy to spare…
…energy which is funnelled back into the album as a more traditional metal feel descends upon ‘On Fowl Of Tyrant Wing’, the band planting their feet firmly on the old school heavy metal monitor for ‘A Sacrifice To Satan’s Spawn’ – the sound of eighties heavy metal rising in the air. More specifically, the mid-eighties and ‘Powerslave’ era Iron Maiden! And as the band appear to have dropped a gear here, is this the time to take a quick breather? Certainly is, but you’d better be quick though, ’cause methinks the return of spellbinding speed isn’t too far away! And how wrong I am – ‘A Gypsy’s Tale (Of Sex And Seance)’ entering the fray with the kinda music you’d hear coming from a fortune teller’s tent at a circus! Only for the first thirty seconds or so, Bütcher taking us all deep into the bowels of hell with menacing death metal growls and a mighty foot stomp so fierce it’s liable to knock the planet off its fucking axis! The blend of death, black and thrash metal here is overwhelming, the band also veering off into their more familiar speed metal territory! And bringing the album to an end is the nine-and-a-half minute long ‘An Ending In Fyre’, literally ending the album on fucking fire! Bütcher throws everything in their vast arsenal at listeners here, ‘An Ending In Fyre’ offering more variety than all the other songs put together!
Overall, ferocity and speed combine perfectly as Bütcher devastates the airways with a savage onslaught of incredible high-velocity heavy metal.
TRACKLIST
A Divine Wind
Speed Metal Samurai
Blessed By The Blade
Koraktor’s Iron Rule
Keep The Steele
A Sacrifice To Satan’s Spawn
A Gypsy’s Tale (Of Sex And Seance)
An Ending In Fyre
Bütcher: Facebook
Release Year: 2024
Label: Osmose Productions
Category: Album
Country: Belgium
Reviewed by Iron Mathew for Frenzy Fire and Metal-Roos.
