This is a fascinating and absolutely insane archival release of material from 1974 from Vancouver's Twitch, who utilized extreme proto-black metal visuals in their live concerts, which resulted in some intense reactions from fans (some so extreme that they would indeed make some of the band members question if this is the right line of work for them). And while the corpse paint and blood and Satanic imagery (and we're going back to 1973 for the live imagery) is a sight to behold, don't let it overshadow the tunes: opening cut "Litany To Raise The Dead" steals the show here, the opening galloping-horse riff surely one of the earliest in the biz, the perfect falsetto vocal melody predating anything Mr. Diamond would lay down by a good long while. And "I Am The Wizard" is a great, heavy, proto-doom/early metal affair. 

The release goes through a few sides of the band's personality, which is a bit jarring: elsewhere there is boogie rock, proto-punk and classic rock sounds, which create an odd divide between the lyrical content and the music. But they pulled it off: a tune like "Vaseline", here captured live, is a great example of Twitch's proficiency at mixing classic rock and roll with proto-punk/power pop, which is miles away from what the cover art and the first couple songs here promise, but a great listen nonetheless. As is often the case with archival and reissue releases, production qualities vary: "Roaring Drunk" sounds like it was recorded from down the road while the band was jamming in the garage. Then "Jessica" ends it all off with a deceptively upbeat tune about a witch burning, a suitably bizarre way to end off this bizarre release. Superb album for music historians, fans of very early metal, and Canadian rarities; longhairs should also apply due to the strength of those first two songs alone, again, the fact that they are from 1974 nothing short of mind-melting.