The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
  • Reviews
    • Album Reviews
    • Features
    • Live Reviews
    • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • Headlines
    • News
    • Contests
    • Events
    • Entertainment Headlines
    • Concert Listings
    • Toronto Concert Venues
  • New Music
    • Premieres
    • Track Of The Day
  • Track Of The Month
  • Books + Movies
  • About
  • Reviews
    • Album Reviews
    • Features
    • Live Reviews
    • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • Headlines
    • News
    • Contests
    • Events
    • Entertainment Headlines
    • Concert Listings
    • Toronto Concert Venues
  • New Music
    • Premieres
    • Track Of The Day
  • Track Of The Month
  • Books + Movies
  • About
  • Spill Menu
    • Reviews
      • Album Reviews
      • Features
      • Live Reviews
      • Festivals
    • Portraits
    • Headlines
      • News
      • Contests
      • Events
      • Entertainment Headlines
      • Concert Listings
      • Toronto Concert Venues
    • New Music
      • Premieres
      • Track Of The Day
    • Track Of The Month
    • Books + Movies
    • About
Album Reviews
513
previous article
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE CRANBERRIES - SOMETHING ELSE
next article
SPILL NEWS: PETER HOOK SIGNING AT FOPP MANCHESTER ON MAY 5th - ON SAME DAY AS WESTWORLD RECORDINGS RELEASE FOUR PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT LIVE ALBUMS

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: DUEL – WITCHBANGER

Duel

Duel
Witchbanger
Heavy Psych Sounds Records

Fans of Monster Truck, Wolfmother, Sabbath, and Thin Lizzy will love the latest album from Texan heavy metal quartet Duel.

Formed by two ex-members of Scorpion Child in 2015, Duel is gearing up for a busy next couple of months. Witchbanger is the band’s sophomore album which is set to release on April 28th, 2017, almost a year after the release of their debut album Fears of the Dead. The band is also getting ready for a European tour which will have them playing in Italy, Germany, Sweden, and a few others.

Inspired by the heavy rock and metal music of the late 60s and the 70s, the songs on Witchbanger are raging ballads full of face-melting guitars and chest pounding drums. The heavy vocals are raw and intimidating, but in the best of ways. The tracks are brilliantly composed with careful emphasis and crescendoes at key points. Overall, Duel has created some fantastic spell-binding music.

However, while it seems that each track has a distinct sound and rhythm making the songs viable to stand alone. Yet moving through the entire 8 track album is much more rewarding than listening to the songs in isolation. Much like the albums created during the eras that inspire Witchbanger, these tracks work together to create one incredible whole unifying theme. And like the epic metal ballads of those days, the album finishes with a slip into a softer psychedelic rock grand finale that will leave you wanting more. This is something that cannot be fully appreciated unless the album is listened to in its entirety.



Artist Links

facebook_flat_2016 bandcamp_flat_2016

Item Reviewed

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: DUEL – WITCHBANGER

Author

Samantha Stevens

Here's what we think...
Spill Rating
Fan Rating
Rate Here
New Criteria
10
10
9.0
Total Spill Rating
10
Total Fan Rating
You have rated this
Album Reviews
album reviewsastro gypsyduelheavy psych sounds recordstigers and rainbowswitchbanger
album reviews, astro gypsy, duel, heavy psych sounds records, tigers and rainbows, witchbanger
About the Author
Samantha Stevens
Samantha “Sam” Stevens is half a music journalist, and half an academic scholar. With a graduate diploma and MA in Journalism, Sam has covered musicians all over the world and her work has appeared in Guitar Girl magazine, North Bay Nugget newspaper, The Link newspaper, and a few others. She even founded and managed her own music blog The Littlest Voice for 5 years, in which the spotlight was thrown on new and emerging indie artists around the globe. Currently, Sam is a PhD student at Carleton University in the School of Indigenous and Canadian studies where she is continuing her MA research on colonial language in Canadian news and government institutions.
RELATED ARTICLES
album reviews
 
8.0
Litvar
7.5

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: LITVAR – BEING HERE

by Ljubinko Zivkovic on July 31, 2026
LITVAR BEING HERE MOTHER WEST RECORDS Litvar’s frontman Rex Thurstan describes the band’s new offering, Being Here, as “a bare, stripped-back folk record.” Yet, that might be stretching it a bit. Of course, Thurstan might [...]
 
9.0
Church of Trees
7.3

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: CHURCH OF TREES – TEN

by Aaron Badgley on July 31, 2026
CHURCH OF TREES TEN INDEPENDENT Church of Trees is a very prolific band. Since Bernard Frazer introduced the band to the world in 2017, they have released nine albums. Ten is their tenth, and, to date, their best. Although Frazer has been the [...]
 
7.0
Cindy Blackman Santana
5.5

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: CINDY BLACKMAN SANTANA – COHERENCE

by Gerrod Harris on July 31, 2026
CINDY BLACKMAN SANTANA COHERENCE MACK AVENUE RECORDS Following 2020’s Give The Drummer Some, Cindy Blackman Santana has returned with her seventh solo studio album, Coherence. The album takes a distinct turn towards contemporary jazz fusion, [...]
 
8.0
Dead Horse Beats
9.0

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: DEAD HORSE BEATS – CHILLING EFFECT

by Sanjeev Wignarajah on July 31, 2026
DEAD HORSE BEATS CHILLING EFFECT BASTARD JAZZ RECORDINGS Montreal/Toronto’s Dead Horse Beats, brainchild of Patrick Wade, have released its fourth studio album, Chilling Effect. The eight-track album fuses late ‘70s R&B, yacht rock, baroque [...]
 
8.0
DOMi & JD Beck

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: DOMI & JD BECK – WHO ASKED?

by Sanjeev Wignarajah on July 31, 2026
DOMI & JD BECK WHO ASKED? BLUE NOTE RECORDS From going viral over their cover of the late rapper MF DOOM’s “ALL CAPS” to their incredible 2022 debut album NOT TiGHT. French American jazz duo DOMi Louna and JD Beck have released their [...]

Latest Album Reviews
View All
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: LITVAR – BEING HERE
8.0
7.5
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: CHURCH OF TREES – TEN
9.0
7.3
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: CINDY BLACKMAN SANTANA – COHERENCE
7.0
5.5
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: DEAD HORSE BEATS – CHILLING EFFECT
8.0
9.0
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: DOMI & JD BECK – WHO ASKED?
8.0

STAY UP-TO-DATE
WITH OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER!

SPILL MAGAZINE MENU
  • Home | The Spill Magazine
  • Newsletter
  • Premieres
  • Track Of The Month
  • Album Reviews
  • Books + Movies
  • Features
  • Live Reviews
  • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • News
  • Events
  • Entertainment Headlines
  • Concert Listings
  • Toronto Concert Venues
  • About Us
  • Contests
  • New Music
  • Contributors
  • TOTD
  • Privacy Policy
  • The Scene Unseen
  • Newsletter

Copyright © 2026 | The Spill Magazine
All Rights Reserved.

TRENDING RIGHT NOW
   
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: SOCIAL DISTORTION – BORN TO KILL
1283
 
SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: SHAMUS – “SORCERESS”
775
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: DEEP PURPLE – SPLAT!
738
 
SPILL NEWS: SUGAR SHARE NEW SINGLE “KEEP LOOPING”
727
 
SPILL FEATURE: LET’S JUST START AGAIN – A CONVERSATION WITH NICK HEYWARD & LES NEMES OF HAIRCUT 100
651
 
SPILL LIVE REVIEW: THE GUESS WHO w/ DON FELDER @ SCOTIABANK SADDLEDOME, CALGARY (AB)
615
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: DOUBLESPEAK – DOUBLESPEAK
539
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: KELZ – A SWEET PASSERBY
524
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MODEST MOUSE – AN ERASER AND A MAZE
518
 
SPILL FEATURE: AFTER THE ASTRONAUT – A CONVERSATION WITH KING COFFEY OF BUTTHOLE SURFERS
484
 
SPILL NEW MUSIC: SAINT AGNES RELEASE VISUALISER FOR NEW SINGLE “THE BEAST”
448
 
SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: KYE ALFRED HILLIG – “ON SMALL WINGS”
441
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE LEMON TWIGS – LOOK FOR YOUR MIND!
428
ENTERTAINMENT HEADLINES