Review: “Under Haunted Skies” by Turbowitch

Bringing the bloodstained crushed velvet curtain down on a decade of destruction, Budapest speed demons Turbowitch have offered up a third album in “Under Haunted Skies” for your listening pleasure. Channelling the spirit of 80’s Extreme Metal through their Blackened Speed Thrash souls, the five piece have a reputation for a fierce live show with fast and filthy songs created for immediate impact in their arsenal. That was of course evidenced by performances alongside Siberian Meat Grinder, Nunslaughter and Enforcer as well as playing Wacken Open Air Festival in 2024, a place to which they wish to return. Since their last album, 2022’s “Fullmoon Liquorthropy” there have been a couple of line up changes, original members in lead guitarist Zsolt “Kommandante Klit” Harsányi (Symmetry of the Void, From the Mirror, The Wedding at the Slaughterhouse), rhythm guitarist Péter “Mr. Fireball” Tóth and vocalist Zsolt “Zslöd” Lédeczi (Teurgia, Deathstruck, Effrontery) joined by new bassist Valdemár “Välde” Volcsánszky and drummer Botond “Khäosz Bringer” Kasper (Skog, Needless, Within the Mind)…

The band commented: “The moment of evil’s arrival. Markoláb, the Devourer of the celestial sphere of old folklore, sweeps across the earth. Human civilization collapses into dust: fire, shadow, and unavoidable destruction. The apocalypse is no longer a prophecy, it is reality”.

While the bands previous records were perhaps a little less serious, this time out the band have a John Carpenter film score like piano introduction in “Evoker of the Twilight” that sets the tone as it conjures evil spirits that circle like vultures over a rotting corpse. The eerie, haunting soundscape is broken by the Blackened Speed Thrash onslaught of “Markoláb” which has a glorious Punk bass solo in between scalding vocal lines from Zslöd. For those unfamiliar to the bands sound, think Bewitcher or Sadistic Force on steroids with all three bands having a mutual love of the work of bands like Motorhead rises to the surface in their full throttle assault.

Title track “Under Haunted Skies” continues the fast and loose onslaught with a lead riff that simply will not leave you alone once it gets inside your head with almost Melodic Death Metal vibes. That doesn’t stop the frantic Blackened Speed Thrash moments however with both guitarists at the height of their game on this timeless tune that could have seen the cold light of day at any point in the past forty years without anyone batting an eyelid.

Another rich melody from the lead guitars runs through the almighty “Cult Mastery“, the gang chanted song title adding a nuance to the insanity which works incredibly well. The lyrical narrative of this one is really interesting because where you might have thought Turbowitch would fuel the fire and claim to be a cult in their own right, instead they prey upon those who would create such things a summon them to the slaughter. More gang chants enhance the neck snapping speed force of “Ashbringer“, the bands abilities to play high quality incendiary material at fretboard smouldering pace a joy to behold, the solo sheer class.

The band comment: “Among the ashes of chaos, cults flourish. Desperate crowds pray to a false god, searching for something to cling to under the cursed heavens. The power of the cultists grows and with it, madness itself.”

The bullets and octane approach isn’t one that was ever going to change because Turbowitch know only one speed so “Highways of Death” is another rapid fire affair with throat splitting vocals from Zslöd that are arguably the bands harshest sonic abrasion. The increase in speed and intensity on this one with what sounds like a burst vocals in Spanish makes it stand out like a hammer smashed thumb (in a good way) with the band not trading any of the elements of their sound for that either. A Punk bass line introduces “Ultimate Failure of Will” and continues underneath the ominously Blackened riffs as Zslöd spits blood, this one a little more stripped back socially but very much still a lethal dose of hatred from Budapest.

It’s all guns blazing for “When the World Crumbled” however, the percussive battery a tornado of souls in Black Metal style, the tsunami of riffs as restless and relentless ans the scalding vocals. Zslöd introduces a few death growls on this one too which makes for a nice change up, as does the flurry of blast beats in the final third, the Punk style bass line being at the forefront of the mix in places a very nice touch. How they have managed to find such a nice balance between the harsh and melodic parts is mystifying.

More of a party anthem on speed that anything else on the record “Moshpit at the End of the Day” feels like its a demo from the likes of Municipal Waste with frantic and frenetic soloing as Turbowitch throw back to their earlier days and trade atmosphere for all out aggression. The return of the gang chanted moments is a thing of beauty, the circle pit inducing change up followed by the sound of someone cracking a beer the ultimate in Metal cliches but carried off in style here. That would have made for a fitting ending to the album but the band have one more trick in their book with “Road to Resilience“, a cut laced with Traditional Heavy Metal influences that arguably wouldn’t have fitted anywhere else on the record. A beast of a record, this is one that is just about as much fun as you can have without losing a limb [8/10]

Track Listing

​1. Evoker of the Twilight
2. Markoláb
3. Under Haunted Skies
4. Cult Mastery
5. Ashbringer
6. Highways of Death
7. Ultimate Failure of Will
8. When the World Crumbled
9. Moshpit at the End of the Day
10. Road to Resilience

“Under Haunted Skies” by Turbowitch is out 20th March 2026 via Time To Kill Records and is available over at bandcamp