The Album Reviews:

	Title: Violence Blasphemy Sodomy Artist: Deathwitch Label: Wicked World Release Date: 2/10/04	Judgment Committee Reviews	Rating
			2
			4
			4
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Abyss's Review:
First things first: for you to even consider buying this record, you have to be a fan of bare-bones, ugly, sloppy death metal. If you were moderately impressed with Soilwork's latest output, run away. If you thought the new Vital Remains album would have been good if it was produced better, run away. If you liked Metallica's St. Anger, well, you should really consider killing yourself, but that's not really part of my argument - I just think a thinning of the idiot pool is in order... but I digress.

"One word review: Pure (as New York City snow)."

My point is that Deathwitch are a blasphemous, comical (whether this is intentional or not, I'm not completely sure), ugly band that cares very little about things like composition and production values, and more about vomiting profanities and heresy for all who will listen. And in this respect, they are quite successful at what they do. Brilliant music this is not, with titles like "Blood Sucking Fuck" and (Hee Hee) "Coffin Fornicator" (as opposed to their working title 'Casket Lovemaker') I don't think they expect that to be debated. It would be easy to rip apart a band like this, but the simple fact is that fans of this type of music don't care about all of the auxiliary aspects to record making that most music fans covet (the band says, on the press kit itself, that it doesn't care about the press, which makes me wonder why they have a press kit at all, but whatever).
In all honesty, there is a small part of me that really likes this album. Although I do enjoy a band like Nunslaughter much more, there is room in my collection for this. Don't ask me to defend it, don't ask me to give it a high score, just let me enjoy it from time to time. One word review: Pure (as New York City snow).

Death's Review:

"Check it out."

Deathwitch have a cool sound, a sort of raw, aggressive primitive death metal mixed with old-school hardcore and modern day, melodic death. Think Deceased meets Hatebreed, Venom meets Watch Them Die, yet then think sloppier and more brutal and more punk. Deathwitch definitely cater to the “punk” side of death metal, a place where bands like Slayer and Possessed and Celtic Frost and Cro-Mags and then Massacre and Autopsy and Repulsion have successfully mined the fertile soil for the last couple decades. Basic, “confrontational” and rebellious, Deathwitch strike a chord and sound killer doing it. I wouldn’t be surprised if bands like this start to pick up some momentum in the next year or two. Deathwitch is “street” enough for the general metalhead yet ugly enough, extreme enough and downright metal enough to ensure it stays underground. Their attitude and lyrical content alone will scare away all the poseurs pretty quickly. So bang your head and enjoy the music, this is still one big middle finger to society. Bottom line? Attitude-wise, this used to be what metal was all about. Musically, it is primitive, but it is pissed-off and it is cool. Check it out.

Hel's Review:
Before this album came my way, I’d never heard of Deathwitch. The cartoon-y cover, in conjunction with the rather silly sounding band name and title, Violence Blasphemy Sodomy, drew, for me, a picture of a silly gore-soaked style death, or maybe grind, band. I was actually surprised after tossing it in – it was much better than I had expected.

"The songwriting is solid and the musicianship is excellent."

Now, my initial impressions, gleaned from the title, band name, and cover art, were not totally inaccurate. I had simply not expected the technical prowess found on this disc to be included as part of the package. The songwriting is solid and the musicianship is excellent. These two factors, in combination, are what set this album apart and are the cause of my aural double take when I first listened to the record.
Is this the be all, end all, death metal album of 2004? Not hardly - after all, we’ve barely even begun the year. But, what it is, well, it is a very pleasant surprise. Frankly, my instinct was to pass right by this record, but I am extremely glad that I was forced to pause and ponder it. Well worth a listen if you are a fan of all blasphemous death.

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