Night Terror Return Of The Witches Review
Night Terror
Return Of The Witches
Deko Entertainment
2025
It’s been a minute since we’ve heard from the Jack Frost & Seven Witches camp, but the frost has thawed and Jack’s back swinging a flaming axe. Out of the charred ruins of Seven Witches, he’s forged something wicked: Night Terror, a new beast, sharp-teethed and dripping with pure steel. The lineup is a headbanger’s wet dream: Karl Wilcox on drums, Dennis Hayes on bass, Jack on the six-string, and the one and only Jason McMaster - the pastor of disaster himself, screaming from the pulpit.
If you don’t know McMaster, crawl out from under whatever rubble you’ve been living beneath. The man is Heavy Metal personified - Dangerous Toys, Broken Teeth, Ignitor, Watchtower, he’s the Iron Man of Metal, and he never runs out of juice. When I saw his name attached to this band, I immediately raised the horns in celebration.
The band’s debut EP, “Return Of The Witches,” lands later this month on Deko Entertainment, and brother, this ain’t just another reunion project, this is a firestarter. If you ever followed Seven Witches, you know the formula: molten riffs, galloping rhythms, and that midnight mysticism that made you want to punch a hole through a stained-glass window. But with McMaster at the mic, it’s like someone strapped a rocket to the old spellbook and launched it straight into the stratosphere.
McMaster drags that NWOBHM torch back into the spotlight, his vocals hit like a chain-whip to the jaw. You can taste the Judas Priest, the Saxon swagger and the Thin Lizzy class, all dripping in sweat and beer foam. “Return Of The Witches” doesn’t just pay homage to that golden age of Metal; it resurrects it and dances around the flaming pyre.
“Dyin’ Day” kicks the door off the hinges and throws you headfirst into the mosh pit. Frost’s riffs sound like they’ve been sharpened on tombstones, while McMaster belts from his soul’s basement. Next up, “Night Terror”, the band’s namesake. The riffs are dark, thick, and haunting, this could’ve lived on an early Dio record without raising an eyebrow.
“Natural Destruction” goes full-throttle - thrash edges, teeth bared, and zero intention of slowing down. It’s the kind of track that makes you drive 90 in a 40mph speed zone, grinning like a maniac. And then there’s the single, “Remedy Is In The Poison.” It starts slow, lulls you into a false sense of safety, then it detonates like a ritual gone nuclear. If you needed one track to summarize the band’s venomous intent, this is it.
The EP’s up for preorder through Deko on CD, vinyl, and an autographed bundle that practically screams buy me or die unworthy. I’ve already ordered the vinyl, but I’m eyeballing that signed set like a starving wolf. This is the kind of release that reminds you why you fell in love with Heavy Metal in the first place.
No gimmicks. No bullshit. No false Metal. Just molten riffs, fire-breathing vocals, thunderous rhythms, and the undeniable spirit of old-school Heavy Metal clawing its way back from the depths.
The kid in me who grew up on bullet belts, denim vests, leather and magazine clippings of Priest and Maiden is howling in pure joy. Night Terror is a welcome resurgence. A reminder that the old Metal gods still live.