For some reason, it seems to take German one man band Winterblut, about 4 years to write and record a new record, at least that's the pattern we've observed over the course of all four full lengths, and the interesting thing too, is that within that huge span of time between each record, the sound of Winterblut changes dramatically, 1999's Der 6. Danach was a fierce chunk of blazing, blasting grim Nordic style blackness, while 2003's Grund: Gelenkkunst found the band utterly transformed into a twisted, convoluted SST meets Voivod sort of black prog, and then 2007's Das Aas Aller Dinge found Winterblut returning to more traditional black metal territory, but dragging some of those post rockisms and progginess with him. So here we are ANOTHER four years later, with Von Den Pflichten Schones Zu Vernichten, and again, things have definitely changed, although right off the bat, this still definitely sounds like Winterblut (Allan named that tune within about 30 seconds of hearing this for the first time without being told wht it was!!), but the sound is much more raw, and primitive, and indeed grim, the opening, a lumbering atonal midtempo trudge, the guitars jagged and abrasive, the vocals a rasped croak, the riffs woozy and trancelike, eventually the song explodes in a frenzy of blasting blackness, only to slip back into warped dirgery, and that seems to be the new Winterblut sound, veering occasionally into bursts of black intensity, but spending most of its time at a wounded crawl, the Voivodness definitely rearing its head in those parts, sounding like Dimension Hatross at 16rpm, a sort of post prog Burzumic churn, a bit doomy, quite depressive, the riffs grim and frosty, the sound sharp and brittle, super atmospheric, the atonality and gnarled chordal shifts, giving the whole record a seriously creepy fucked up vibe, which sounds incredible and seriously twisted, and is making Von Den Pflichten Schones Zu Vernichten one of our new favorite black metal records, another killer chapter, in Winterblut's very slowly expanding catalogue of black buzz miserablism. So I guess we've got 4 more to revel in WB's immersive blackness, before it's time to check in again...
Part of a new(ish) metal movement in the UK, Winterfylleth, along with Fen and Wodensthrone (who share a member or two) are spearheading a wave of Neo-Pagan black metallism, that entails, lyrically, plenty of nature and Anglo-Saxon history, while sonically channeling a sound similar to heathen BM combos Drudkh, but sprinkled liberally with the Viking vibes of Enslaved. In fact, besides the fact that Winterfylleth are from the UK, they do often sound criminally like a Viking horde from Norway, plenty of chanting vocals, deep crooning, sea sick tempos swaying to and fro, long stretches of washed out acoustic folk, but WF also manage to supercharge that sound plenty of the time, slipping easily into furious black blasts as easily as they slip right back into some Nordic style chant.
The sound is dense, the guitars crunchy and thick, the atmosphere alternatingly grim and foresty, black and brutal, the drums loud in the mix, the vocals a harsh raspy howl (when they're not a crooning or chanting that is), the tempos hover mostly around the mid, but do lurch into frenzied bursts of maniacal buzz, as well as sometimes slowing all the way down to a doomic lope. When the band lock into a stretch of classic black metal buzz, they definitely remind us of prime era Darkthrone, but even then, often unexpectedly the band will introduce clean singing, or some strange melody, or spew out some super tangled chunk of blackened psych, and that's when Winterfylleth really shine, when their various influences mix and blur, creating some new, less easily defined strain of black metal, yet one that still hews close enough to its various roots to appeal to the various black factions. Repeated listens definitely reveal more and more, the songs open up and become deeper, more layered, more complexy, melodies surface, what was once blasting and black, becomes strange shades of buzzing grey, the acoustic tracks sound gorgeous, timeless, like old school British folk, with the guitars wreathed in sun dappled reverb, and unfurling lilting minor key melodies, often immediately giving way to huge churning blackened almost-grooves, or exploding into full bore, blown out black metal grimnity.
Fans of Enslaved, Negura Bunget, Drudkh, and the like will definitely dig...
Record number two from these British neo-pagan black metallers, who along with Fen, Wodensthrone and a few others are fronting a new wave of British black metal, one that is lyrically concerned with nature and Anglo Saxon history, but that sonically is mostly concerned with crafting buzzing majestic blackened epics, which they do here big time.
Even more fully realized than their debut, The Mercian Sphere offers up sprawling epic after sprawling epic, right out of the gate, a brief bit of chanting leads into some furious heaviness, soaring melodies, buzzing guitars and some intense and complex drum pound, the arrangements are serpentine and intricate, the band swerving from lighting speed blast, to loping midtempo march and back again, melodies spiraling skyward, the vocals powerful and gruff, not screechy like most black metal, and as this is pagan BM after all, eventually, the clean vocals come in, which can be embarrassing in many cases, but here it's masterful, moving and emotional, not that far removed from Enslaved or the like, but maybe even better and more melodic here. In fact, the sound of Winterfylleth is a bit like some strange melding of Enslaved, Negura Bunget, Ulver and Drudkh, but with their own Decidedly British bent.
There are plenty of interludes, folky breakdowns, acoustic guitars, strings, haunting ambience, but unlike lots of bands, the atmosphere doesn't reside exclusively in the interludes, the songs themselves ooze atmosphere, the clean vocals, the chanting, over churning downtuned chug and crashing bombast, as moody and epic as anything. And beyond the blast and the buzz, Winterfylleth are capable of crafting some supremely sublime and melodic metal, "Defending The Realm" offers up what has to be the catchiest bit of black metal we've heard in ages, butted right up against some blazing flurries of insectoid buzz, "The Ruin" on the surface is all blackness and fury, but it's infused with all manner of melody and texture, pathos and anguish, the vocals especially tortured and intense, more like Neurosis or a band like that then typical black metal, the closing track perfectly encapsulating the power and energy of the band, beginning with a long stretch of warm folk strum, before a stretch of grim blasting blackness, only to slip smoothly into another impossibly catchy and melodic part, that is groovy and hooky, without losing any of its brutality or intensity, only to finally wind down with a mix of the two acoustic guitars, chugging riffage, and more of those gorgeous clean vocals.
Epic, majestic and fucking great.
We've had this record by British band Winters (not to be confused with seminal doom-dirge act Winter) for some time now, but as with so many deserving things, didn't find time to review it until now, and it's a shame 'cause it's a great album we probably should have highlighted back when. Well, great if you love Nirvana and things that sound like Nirvana. The worst criticism (unoriginality) that could be leveled against Winters is also their biggest draw - how much they sound like good ol' Nirvana!! That's right. Though this came out (in '07) via England's hairy, heavy Rise Above label (home to the doomy, stoner likes of Electric Wizard and Witchcraft, among others), Winters are a bit poppier than you might expect. With loads of fuzzy, crunchy guitar riffs, yeah - but definitely poppy in an old school GRUNGE way, complete with slightly whiney, sometimes sing-songy vocals very reminiscent of Kurt Cobain's. The Melvins and Black Sabbath and '60s garage psych are all obvious influences (the band also cites The Creation, The Kinks, Elliott Smith, and Witchfinder General, among other inspirations). Their song "Aftershown" is what "Iron Man" would have sounded like if it had been ripped off by Kurt for inclusion on Bleach! And there's plenty more of those sorts of Sabbath meets Shocking Blue riffs and hooks on here, both languid and lurching. Aside from Nirvana, we'd also figure that fans of old Soundgarden and Fudge Tunnel might dig this, among others... or for more recent reference, how 'bout imagining a hybrid of the first albums from Burning Brides and Witch?
This is one of those classic rock '70s bands that I (Allan) had always heard of (their claim to fame was pioneering the twin guitar harmony thing, inspiring Thin Lizzy and later Iron Maiden) but had never heard... Nobody was like, "Dude! Wishbone Ash! You
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The European label Who Can You Trust? brings us two new tapes in their series of limited live cassette-only releases by some of our favorite heavy/psych bands, that began with the instantly-out-of-print White Hills live at WFMU tape last year. One from San Francisco's very own Dzjenghis Khan, and one by Massachusetts heavy lords Witch featuring Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis on drums.
The cassette from Witch was recorded live at Holland's celebrated Roadburn Festival, in 2008 - and in our experience, bands tend to be at their best at Roadburn! Their set features nine songs over two sides, songs drawn from both of Witch's albums, five from their especially stoner/Sabbathy styled self-titled debut and four from their somewhat more punked out sophomore effort Paralyzed. So a bunch of our Witch favorites are on here, including "Rip Van Winkle", "Seer", and the crucial "Changing", which Allan here considers to be the best heavy hypnotic doom stoner song of the century so far. In fact, he'd probably be happy with a tape that just repeated them playing it over and over and over, it's so good, not that Witch's other songs aren't killer too. But that one, wow, it's got a riff to rival "Satori Part II" by the Flower Travellin' Band, man. Anyway, the only people who are gonna be fast enough on the trigger to nab one of these tapes are already Witch fans, and already know all that...
Being live, of course the sound on this tape is somewhat raw, compared to the studio recordings, but it's good, better than a bootleg for sure. Witch sound particularly Melvins-y here!
Purple cassette, with sexy witch cover art on the J-card by the band's bassist, Dave Sweetapple. Super limited (200 copies only!), and we only have a few...
The Witch album that came out last year was, in our doom-lovin' opinion, one of the best Black Sabbath/'70s styled doom metal records we'd heard in a long time. And quite a surprise, considering that Witch is something of an unlikely "supergroup" -- including members of new weird folksters Feathers, and Dinosaur Jr. mainman J. Mascis, on drums!! Of course, Mascis is super busy now with the (equally unlikely but totally awesome) Dinosaur reunion, we know that our hankering for new material (or live dates out here in California) from Witch was probably gonna require some patience on our part. Fortunately, to keep us tided over 'til whenever that happens, there's this unexpected DVD documentary on Witch! With the great title "Local Band Nitemare", it's about 20 minutes long, shot on tour in in the Northeast, 2007 including both live performance and interview footage... join Witch on the road, in the van, backstage, in the hotel. Hijinks ensue, sort of. Some of it is actually funny, maybe just 'cause it's J. Mascis there in his long grey hair and glasses... and the live bits will serve to remind you how this multigenerational band of longhairs are almighty masters of the swingin' doom RIFF, in the tradition of Sabbath, Saint Vitus, Sleep, Dead Meadow, and even the Flower Travellin' Band. Also included in addition to Local Band Nitemare: the psychedelic-visual-effects overloaded promo video for the track "Seer" (check out J. spinning those sticks!), a special full live rendition of "Isadora" from their very first show, and also an art/photo gallery feature. So, if you like Witch as much as we do, you'll be pretty stoked on this. If you haven't checked Witch out yet, well we urge you to pick up their self-titled debut if what we said about 'em above has interested you at all!
NB. the band originally released this themselves on dvd-r, wrapped in just a xeroxed paper sleeve, but this new version on Tee Pee is a real dvd, packaged in a normal dvd case, done up all pro-like.
Witch's self-titled debut from 2006 was one of our absolute favorite "stoner/doom" metal releases of that year (or any year sez Allan!). An unlikely "supergroup" combo consisting in part of members of folk-pysch collective Feathers, with famed alt-rock guitar god J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. on drums (not guitar!), Witch exceeded all expectations with their slow and Sabbathy, heavier than thou, utterly righteous psychedelic doom mastery. OMG, oh my Iommi, the riffs!!
Perhaps aware that they couldn't really outdo (or outdoom?) themselves riff-wise, the debut being such a tough act to follow in that department, the Witchy ones have smartly decided to accentuate some other aspects of their sound on their sophomore slab. So while the first Witch had held hints of SST styled '80s punkishness, our first impression of Paralyzed is that it's definitely much more punked out than its illustrious predecessor. Perhaps Mascis, who used to keep time in hardcore/grind band Deep Wound way back when, wanted more of a workout on the drums. It's quite chaotically energetic and uptempo aggro a lot of the time, along with indulging in their usual lugubrious headbanging trancification. A little less Vitus, a little more Flag (is the song "Gone" a nod to Ginn's other band?). And maybe more Frost, less Sabbath.
Not that they don't bring the riffs, it's just that they don't quite match the 10 on a scale of 1-10 magnitude of those from the likes of "Changing" or "Rip Van Winkle" from the self titled album (how could they?). However, the speedier (in parts) Paralyzed does certainly boast a bonanza of snakey lead guitar action, liberally dosed in tripped out psychedelic FX. We gotta hand it to singer/lead axeman Kyle Thomas, he shows no signs of nervousness taking tangled solos with none other than (let's not forget) J. Mascis bashing away behind him. Nor is he shy on the mic, his vocals sometimes reminding us of the sneer/snarl of Blaine from The Accused... with, still, a bit of the Ozz. Other observations: sometimes we think we hear the cries of garagey pop jangle buried alive on some of these tracks, and at times we might (might) describe Witch as sounding like a way more badass Dead Meadow. Also the more lumbering tracks here ('cause they do slow it down) remind us of some early Melvins or Steel Pole Bathtub. It's a pretty rad, reverby mix altogether, an cool collision of heavy psychotic shambling psych and corroded crossover punk/metal. We're digging it. Comes in a black digipack adorned with the apocalyptic, druggy, melty-looking artwork of bros Luke and Kyle Thomas, which makes it even cooler.
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Got just a handful of this debut 7" from ye olde Witch, featuring J Mascis on drums + dudes from Feathers! HEAVY!!! Look elsewhere on the site for their amazing full-length!
We've all been loving the soft lilting new weird free hippy folk of the Feathers, who for us were a recent discovery. And we've always been big fans of J Mascis, the distorted psychedelic indie fuzz of Dinosaur Jr, but even in his stints with sludgy punk rock outift Deep Wound and behind the kit for weirdo metallers Upside Down Cross. But never in our wildest dreams did we imagine the twain would meet. But what do you know? It's either a seriously small world, or there is some not so secret bond joining the disparate music arcs of these long haired fellows. Witch is not necessarily what you might imagine a meeting of Dinosaur Jr. and the Feathers would sound like, although the frilly jackets and bell bottoms and long hair should give you a clue. This is total seventies proto metal meets sludgy groovy stoner rock. Big BIG riffs, groovy and sun baked, blown out and HEAVY. Seriously. We hear Sabbath, Saint Vitus, Pentagram, Trouble, even some Kyuss and more modern stoner/doom outfits, like Witchcraft and Dead Meadow. The vocals are drenched in reverb and are sort of soaring and whining, some definite Ozzy influence there, also at times verging on a reedy Marc Bolan/Comus folky warble. And the guitar sound, OOF! You'd be forgiven for thinking that was Mascis on lead guitar, but he's manning the drum kit here, no the guitars are fuzzy seventies metallic groove, with a guitar sound definitely reminiscent of Sub Pop drone guitar gods Rein Sanction, like Hendrix filtered through Iommi, laced with LSD, dipped in goat's blood, set in the sun to bake and of course slathered in warm distorted fuzz. But with a band like this it's all about the riffs. Everyone knows Sabbath took all the best riffs, that's why so many heavy bands have based entire careers on stealing 'em, but Witch prove that there are still some killer riffs left out there. Heavy and fuzzy enough to bear a passing resemblance to the Sabs, but weird and wooly and unique enough that they can unabashedly claim them as their own. This is definitely another one of those bands like Elope or the Want, that if you didn't know better, and were forced to guess, you could be forgive for thinking Witch were straight out of the seventies (though with maybe 'cause of J, a whif of '80s SST hardcore punk somewhere in there too). Sonically, production wise, the whole package. And while the whole record is heavy and sludgy and groovy, it's worth the price of admission alone for track 5, "Rip Van Winkle" with a riff that is one of THOSE riffs. The whole track is a stone cold classic, from THAT riff, to the crazy blown out psychedelic leads, to the bombastic drumming, the weird arrangement, the wailing vocals, it's hugely heavy, head noddingly hypnotic, head bangingly massive, but groovy and catchy, minor key melodies beneath thick waves of warm guitar fuzz, totally emotional and amazing, it's like the best Sabbath song that never was. Then there's the track right before it, "Changing", that ALSO has one of THOSE riffs, and sounds like some sort of incredible, exotic Saint Vitus/Flower Travellin' Band hybrid. Wow. And all the other songs are pretty amazing too.
We just wish that they could have come up with a name a little more original than Witch. If they were indeed dead set on some sort of Witch name, you can't go wrong adding some appropriately evil or mysterious second word to your band name, I mean, c'mon, we would have gladly taken Featherwitch or even better DINOSAUR WITCH!
Profound Lore brings us the second album in two years from female fronted PDX doom posse Witch Mountain. And for the second time, their weighty Sabbathy stoner sludge is taken to another level by the soaring singing of Uta Plotkin, who can really belt it out, damn!
Opener "The Ballad Of Lanky Rae" is a bit of a curveball, a bluesy backwoods tall tale about a seven foot woman, who as a little girl preferred to play with guns instead of dolls, and eventually leaves town (after stealing a car and shooting a man down) to find her gun-totin', whisky drinking demon daddy, deep at the center of the earth. It's good fun, some swampy stoner rawk all right, and Plotkin sure puts it across. But, the other tracks on this album are quite a bit more "serious" sounding than that, with atmospheres more desolate, or emotions more real. The riffs are massive and mighty, the quiet parts moody and melodic, and Plotkin proves that her vocal range can convincingly venture into scary growls as well as piercing howls. The guitars get to let loose too, and these aren't short songs. Ferinstance, "Aurelia", the longest, clocks in at almost 12 minutes, its epic post-rock loud-soft dynamics mixed with more of that high lonesome sound, Plotkin singing sadly and sweetly amidst plodding heavy parts that utterly crush. The album's closer is another long one, a 9:22 doom-blues that creeps along quietly for some time before its cathartic fists-clenched conclusion. Earth fronted by Alannah Myles might be a good/weird comparision! Furthermore, there's moments on this album that make us think of both Hammers Of Misfortune and Black Label Society, at the same time. Which is also weird. But awesome.
Basically, if you liked Witch Mountain's South Of Salem, you'll like this. And it's very much recommened to fans of the current crop of female fronted heavy rock acts, especially Royal Thunder, Loon, and The Devil's Blood.
Doom metal from Portland, Oregon. Formerly known as Iommi Stubs (a better name!) so you know they're Sabbath freaks. Unfortunately, this is one for doom die-hards only, as the vocals (except the one song with Lost Goat's Erica Stoltz guesting) are not so good, and the music is pretty average too. Maybe next time. But, they deserve praise for one clever, Judas Priest
From Portland Oregon via the UK (courtesy of Rage Of Achilles) comes Witch Mountain. A noisy sloppy but pretty heavy mix of seventies stoner groove and groovy doom somewhere between Sabbath and St. Vitus.
The veteran PDX doomsters return, with their 3rd album of the band's "Uta Plotkin era". Her sultry, soulful singing has gotten Witch Mountain a lot of deserved attention since she joined in 2009, and this new effort once again benefits from her presence. Where else can you hear such epic, bluesy doooooom crawls with vocals by someone who, while tuff enuff, also kinda sounds like she could be a contestant on "The Voice", but crooning lyrics (her own) like "Classy, fornicating rodents / Grafting thumbs on fishes foreheads / Portentous pustules popping discreetly / Meat streaked sheets do whisper sweetly". Uta's definitely the star of the show, bringing an almost pop diva skill set to the band's heavy slo-mo sound, and she throws in a cookie monster vocal growl at least once, just to show she's down with that too. The mix of metal and melody here pretty satisfying, especially for anyone who enjoyed the previous two albums, South Of Salem and Cauldron Of The Wild with her on the mic. We just heard, however, that Uta is splitting with the band soon, so this will be their last album with her. Going back to having the guitarist sing might not be the best option, we wonder what they'll decide to do?
South Of Salem is just the second record from this long running (14 years!) Portland doom outfit, but it's their first with vocalist Uta Plotkin, and she really makes all the difference, transforming the groups dirgey bluesy Sabbathy groove into something much more unique, soulful and slithery, and weirdly poppy too. In fact Plotkin is not possessed of a raspy howl, or a guttural growl, but an actual voice, a serious set of pipes that almost sound out of place in a metal band, which is exactly what makes this record sound so special. Plotkin belting these tunes out like some metallized Janis Joplin or doom-ed Heart, like the lost Wilson sister who chose the darker path. The music is a doom lovers dream, thick churning downtuned guitars, dense busy drumming, the sound thick and heavy and epic, and then Plotkin just seals the doomed deal, her voice slipping from a sultry croon, to a powerful yowl, occasionally launching into some seriously wild wails, with some cool multitracked vocal harmonies only adding to the doom-Heart-ed vibe.
Rad stuff for sure, and most definitely recommended for the other witchy doom combos we've dug in the past like Loon, Blood Ceremony, Jex Thoth, The Devil's Blood, Purple Rhinestone Eagle, Witch Mountain tour-mates Christian Mistress, etc.
We're usually not all that into modern thrash, too much of it is style/sound over songs/substance, more about bandanas and party-like live shows that ripping and shredding and destroying. Recently we discovered Speedwolf from Colorado, who had us thrashing like mad, their sound heavy and hooky and equal parts modern metal and classic old school thrash. So it should be no surprise than on their most recent tour, they teamed up with these guys, from LA we think, but with a record on Swedish label Blood Harvest, and goddamn, all you folks who went nuts for Speedwolf should definitely check out Witchaven. But, where Speedwolf was all Motorhead and Venom and Danzig, Witchaven are all Slayer and Kreator and Discharge, total old school thrash metal bliss, absolutely killer riffing, chugging and churning, wild leads (and like all great metal records, the leads are credited on the lyric sheet to the guitar player who played them), and the drumming, shit, so heavy and powerful and UP in the mix, that when the double kick explodes into action it feels like someone is pounding on your chest with their fists.
What else can we say, need some serious heaviness, some classic metal crush, need to get metal thrashing mad? Then these guys are for you.
Pressed on thick vinyl, housed in a heavy black and white sleeve, with a printed insert, with pix and lyrics. ----* ----* Compilations : ----*
Could it be that Sweden's Witchcraft, who seem like some long-lost '70s outfit who stumbled into our era by mistake, are for real? And not some drug-induced figment of a bell-bottomed stoner/doom fantatic's imagination? Yea and verily. Firewood proves that the first Witchcraft record was no crazy fluke. That album was so good (recall, we opened our review of it by saying: "PERHAPS THEE BEST '70s-INSPIRED DOOM ALBUM EVER" in all-caps just like that!) that for their eagerly-awaited follow-up to be even half as good would be impressive. I mean, they'd set the bar pretty high. We are therefore ecstatic to report that Firewood definitely lives up to the standard established by the debut! Can't say yet if it's just almost as good, or if it's even better -- but clearly it's up there with their first disc. I don't think they've yet topped their signature song "No Angel Or Demon" (which appeared on the self-titled disc but also preceeded it on the band's first release, a 7" single) but there's plenty of great songs (and riffs) on Firewood nonetheless, to compare well with the debut. Firewood storms out of the gate with "Chylde of Fire", wanders through the morose "Wooden Cross (I Can't Wake The Dead)", bludgeons with the doomful "Queen of Bees"...and seven more, all killer.
Firewood's also got the same fat '70s vintage production (a little brighter now mayhaps) as before. And certainly their undeniable Pentagram influence (what countrymen Dungen are to Pugh Rogefeldt, Witchcraft are to early Pentagram) is still there, in spades, including a hidden bonus track Pentagram cover, which goes hand in hand with a BIG first-couple-of-Ozzy-era-Sabbath-albums influence as well. And then there's the proggier/folkier elements too, some reminders of Jethro Tull and King Crimson if not quite Comus. Though there is something pagan and ancient here that makes it clear that modern metal and stoner rock has left these guys untouched. That's the beauty of Witchcraft's nostaglic creation. It's hard to think of any current stoner rock or doom band (except for them) who would seriously throw such a disco strut into a song like the way they open "Mr. Haze". Led Zeppelin would be proud. From such unexpected songwriting moves to the folky trill in guitarist/singer/mastermind Magnus Pellander's ever-stronger, emotive voice, they've got such FEEL. That's where they excel. It's an X-factor difficult to describe but central to their success. And it must stem from two things: sheer talent, and their absolute, honest love for (and learning from) the bands that once sounded a bit (or a lot) like them. Put that together and you've got this heavy, sparkling witchy riff-rock retro genius!! If you loved the first Witchcraft, don't hesitate. And if you haven't heard 'em yet, but if you like Pentagram and Sabbath and Witchfinder General and all things heavy and '70s, you'd better lend an ear right NOW. You'll be happy you did.
Yay! Two NEW songs from AQ faves Witchcraft, the Swedish sensations beloved of all those who dig '70s doom/psych like Sabbath and Pentagram as much as they do, and folky proggy stuff too. They're on tour in the US as we write this, go see 'em if you can, we did last night and they were awesome! They played the driving, groovy A-side of this single, "If Crimson Was Your Colour" and it went down a storm. The bluesier B-side, "I Know You Killed Someone" is also a winner, recalling their primal Roky Erickson influence. Seven inch 45 rpm RED VINYL format only, & we only have so many!
By the way, if you do go see them this tour, you might see 'em sporting AQ t-shirts, as they were just in the shop today and we traded 'em for Witchcraft tees...
Yay, at long last (five years!) the return of our/your/everyone's favorite Swedish retro-proto-metallers, Witchcraft! With this, their fourth album, they've moved on from their previous label Rise Above to a new home on bigger label Nuclear Blast. They've also altered their lineup quite a bit, though of course mainman Magnus Pelander remains at the mic (though he's not playing guitar anymore, for some reason, concentrating solely on vocals). Going through changes� without changing -too- much, as far as us listeners are concerned, thankfully. Even with a new drummer and two new guitarists, this still sounds of a piece with the Witchcraft of olde, certainly in part due to the distinctive, emotive, melodic vocal stylings of Pelander. We just love his voice, and he puts on a great performance here. He's got flair, the whole band does.
Musically, Legend is maybe a bit more modern and slickly produced than previous Witchcraft outings, and certainly they didn't get rawer or heavier, no. The direction they took was onwards and upwards. But the influence of such vintage greats as Black Sabbath and Pentagram hasn't exactly waned, though nowadays we'd be more likely to describe Witchcraft as being their own psychedelic, doomy, melodic, proggy, heavy rock thing. Good meaningful music, well played, with lots of both light and shade - lumbering riffs, lovely vox, great guitarwork� Now, someone here thought that this new Witchcraft showed signs of being "success rock", whatever that means, and someone else here (Andee) thought some of it sounded a bit like Queens Of The Stone Age (meant, he assured us, as a compliment!), and yeah sure this is perhaps geared to appeal to a bigger audience than the record collecting '70s downer rock nerds that Witchcraft themselves once were (and heck, still are - after all, the likes of "Dystopia" here sounding like something off of one of Sabbath's final few Ozzy-era albums like Never Say Die). But, whatever. At the risk of sounding snobby, very few bands who get big are really all that great, but Pelander and Witchcraft definitely deserve all their success, so we won't hold it against 'em. Longtime Witchcraft fans, you have nothing to worry about, listen to "It's Not Because Of You" ferinstance and tell us that it doesn't sound like it coulda been on The Alchemist or Firewood. Once again, we're happily enscorcelled by this Witchcraft - and hope it won't be another five years between albums, again!
Domestic vinyl version coming out later in October, fyi.
Album number five from this Swedish mystic-rock institution. Nucleus continues Witchcraft's exploration into a more expansive and lush sound, sprinkling synths, organs and vibraphones into their bubbling cauldron of '70s magick. That being said, they never stray too far from their Sabbath/Pentagram blueprint. In fact, Nucleus sounds quite a bit heavier than 2012's Legend, reintroducing some proper doom riffery that's been seldom seen in the band's latter offerings. Sure to please all fans of the 'Craft while subtly pushing their sound into some new territories.
Oh man. The third album from the Swedish prog/psych/doom wizards Witchcraft is finally here. We can barely contain ourselves. They say third time's the charm, and of course with Witchcraft it can't help but being so, since the first two times were charmed as well. This band's debut destroyed us with its incredibly authentic retro Pentagram/Sabbath stylings, with lashings of flute and folkiness too. Their second album, Firewood, captivated us with an equally early '70s heavy progressive vibe. Now The Alchemist succeeds at giving us what we want from Witchcraft -and- pushing further into the realm of melodic, folky proggy rock that stands on its own far beyond being a mere tribute to its '70s ancestors.
Guitarist/singer Magnus Pelander and his band Witchcraft have pretty much proved that the old adage "they don't make 'em like they used to" isn't always true. Witchcraft sure as hell does. That it's 2007 not 1972 isn't evident from anything on here, though it sounds as fresh as a daisy at the same time. These guys are so old school analog you halfway expect that their cd would be made out of black plastic and have visible grooves in it. We certainly could imagine some DJ's looking for breaks wanting this on vinyl real bad, you could do some badass hiphop mix with parts of "Remembered" ferinstance. Bet Andy Votel digs this band. Totally sounds like they could have gotten a deal with his favorite progressive record label back in the day (that'd be the famed Vertigo) had Witchcraft really existed in the '70s... certainly the inclusion of the sax solo (yes, a sax solo!) at the end of "Remembered" helps make it sound like something from an old Vertigo LP! Elsewhere Witchcraft get super sweet and gentle, or break out the heavy riffs Sabbath style (like you'd expect -- Sabbath originally being a Vertigo band y'know) in a blend we can't help but love.
Magnus' emotive, melodic vocals are so crucial here, one of this record's shining strengths. He still sounds a bit like a Swedish-accented Ozzy, yet with a graceful finesse, belting it out expressively or crooning with lilting loveliness. His vocals are matched by the absolutely powerful and gorgeous guitarwork throughout the disc. This album sweeps us off our feet immediately with the instant-classic opener "Walk Between The Lines", which is followed by a re-recorded version of the A-side of last year's 7" single, "If Crimson Was Your Colour", an urgent, witchy rocker embellished with some tasty Moog licks. Then there's the loping "Leva", which though Magnus sings it in Swedish, still goes straight to our soul. The Sabbath factor is ratcheted up on "Hey Doctor", a lumbering doom-riffed downer lamentation/accusation. The next track, "Samaritan Burden" combines the heavy riffs with a mellower mood and more acoustic-y moments, masterfully structured. It's followed by the aforementioned "Remembered", definitely an album-standout that's so '70s in so many ways that pretty much only Witchcraft could have done it in this day and age. And then, speaking of standouts, comes the nearly 15 minute long title track, "The Alchemist"! We'll omit description other than to say it's of course an epic mindblower, closing the album with magnificent, mesmeric, proggier than thou flourish.
Definitely a Top 10 Best of 2007 album. We'd have made it Record Of The Week, but what we've got here is the somewhat pricier Japanese import edition (the domestic version is due out towards the end of the month), with a Japan-only bonus track added on at the end, "Sweet Honey Pie", a lovely, acoustic little number. Not sure when/if we'll get more, so we were wary about giving it pole position. But with or without bonus track, it's an AMAZING new effort from this fantastic band, highly recommended. Seriously, we'd have been happy taking all day to write this review, just 'cause we love listening to this album so much.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Oh man. The third album from the Swedish prog/psych/doom wizards Witchcraft is finally here. We can barely contain ourselves. They say third time's the charm, and of course with Witchcraft it can't help but being so, since the first two times were charmed as well. This band's debut destroyed us with its incredibly authentic retro Pentagram/Sabbath stylings, with lashings of flute and folkiness too. Their second album, Firewood, captivated us with an equally early '70s heavy progressive vibe. Now The Alchemist succeeds at giving us what we want from Witchcraft -and- pushing further into the realm of melodic, folky proggy rock that stands on its own far beyond being a mere tribute to its '70s ancestors.
Guitarist/singer Magnus Pelander and his band Witchcraft have pretty much proved that the old adage "they don't make 'em like they used to" isn't always true. Witchcraft sure as hell does. That it's 2007 not 1972 isn't evident from anything on here, though it sounds as fresh as a daisy at the same time. These guys are so old school analog you halfway expect that their cd would be made out of black plastic and have visible grooves in it. We certainly could imagine some DJ's looking for breaks wanting this on vinyl real bad, you could do some badass hiphop mix with parts of "Remembered" ferinstance. Bet Andy Votel digs this band. Totally sounds like they could have gotten a deal with his favorite progressive record label back in the day (that'd be the famed Vertigo) had Witchcraft really existed in the '70s... certainly the inclusion of the sax solo (yes, a sax solo!) at the end of "Remembered" helps make it sound like something from an old Vertigo LP! Elsewhere Witchcraft get super sweet and gentle, or break out the heavy riffs Sabbath style (like you'd expect -- Sabbath originally being a Vertigo band y'know) in a blend we can't help but love.
Magnus' emotive, melodic vocals are so crucial here, one of this record's shining strengths. He still sounds a bit like a Swedish-accented Ozzy, yet with a graceful finesse, belting it out expressively or crooning with lilting loveliness. His vocals are matched by the absolutely powerful and gorgeous guitarwork throughout the disc. This album sweeps us off our feet immediately with the instant-classic opener "Walk Between The Lines", which is followed by a re-recorded version of the A-side of last year's 7" single, "If Crimson Was Your Colour", an urgent, witchy rocker embellished with some tasty Moog licks. Then there's the loping "Leva", which though Magnus sings it in Swedish, still goes straight to our soul. The Sabbath factor is ratcheted up on "Hey Doctor", a lumbering doom-riffed downer lamentation/accusation. The next track, "Samaritan Burden" combines the heavy riffs with a mellower mood and more acoustic-y moments, masterfully structured. It's followed by the aforementioned "Remembered", definitely an album-standout that's so '70s in so many ways that pretty much only Witchcraft could have done it in this day and age. And then, speaking of standouts, comes the nearly 15 minute long title track, "The Alchemist"! We'll omit description other than to say it's of course an epic mindblower, closing the album with magnificent, mesmeric, proggier than thou flourish.
Definitely a Top 10 Best of 2007 album. We'd have made it Record Of The Week, but what we've got here is the somewhat pricier Japanese import edition (the domestic version is due out towards the end of the month), with a Japan-only bonus track added on at the end, "Sweet Honey Pie", a lovely, acoustic little number. Not sure when/if we'll get more, so we were wary about giving it pole position. But with or without bonus track, it's an AMAZING new effort from this fantastic band, highly recommended. Seriously, we'd have been happy taking all day to write this review, just 'cause we love listening to this album so much.
PERHAPS THEE BEST '70s-INSPIRED DOOM ALBUM EVER. Can't put it any plainer. This is sooo authentically old sounding, and sooo good. Sweden's Witchcraft have delved into the past through seemingly mystical means and come up with a masterpiece that sounds like it was recorded by some genius yet unknown downer-rock contemporary of Black Sabbath or Pentagram back in 1972. In a blindfold test, anyone into '70s heavy rock would be fooled for sure. Doomy retro-proto-metal full of heart-wrenching atmosphere, killer riffs, and melodic hooks galore. The mastermind behind Witchcraft, guitarist/vocalist Magnus Pellander, is obviously HUGELY into heavy '70s psych/prog rock. Doubtless he's got an extensive record collection with well-worn albums by Sabbath and a host of more obscure bands like Dust, Captain Beyond, November, Toad, Jerusalem, etc... But unlike so many other record collectors, instead of spending his time making want lists and grading LPs, Magnus *listened* to 'em, then went into the studio and wrote songs as good or BETTER than pretty much anything on those collector's platters. Literally, inspired stuff. As modern-day but '70s sounding records go, maybe only that Elope record we reviewed recently could compare in convincing us it was recorded thirty years ago -- imagine that album with heavier, fuzzier guitars and more melancholic vibrations. (Another one would be The Want album Southern Lord released a few years ago).
So we were super thrilled to hear that this band was putting out a full-length. And apparently other folks were too, 'cuz we've already sold a bunch of these in the store before even reviewing it! Kinda weird, since their only previous release, a 7" single paying tribute to two of Witchcraft main man Magnus Pelander's big heroes, Roky Erickson of the 13th Floor Elevators and Pentagram's Bobby Liebling, was a hard to find, import-only release (both tracks from which are included here, along with an obscure Pentagram cover making Witchcraft's love of Liebling even more obvious). On the strength of that single, though (and the few singles and compilation tracks recorded by Magnus's previous band, Norrsken), our anticipation for Witchcraft's debut album ran high. Well, as you've already gathered, we're even more thrilled to say that it more than lives up to our expectations! We have a handful of copies of the import vinyl as well, which includes a bonus track (another Pentagram cover).
Now available as a SUPER LIMITED picture disc!!
PERHAPS THEE BEST '70s-INSPIRED DOOM ALBUM EVER. Can't put it any plainer. This is sooo authentically old sounding, and sooo good. Sweden's Witchcraft have delved into the past through seemingly mystical means and come up with a masterpiece that sounds like it was recorded by some genius yet unknown downer-rock contemporary of Black Sabbath or Pentagram back in 1972. In a blindfold test, anyone into '70s heavy rock would be fooled for sure. Doomy retro-proto-metal full of heart-wrenching atmosphere, killer riffs, and melodic hooks galore. The mastermind behind Witchcraft, guitarist/vocalist Magnus Pellander, is obviously HUGELY into heavy '70s psych/prog rock. Doubtless he's got an extensive record collection with well-worn albums by Sabbath and a host of more obscure bands like Dust, Captain Beyond, November, Toad, Jerusalem, etc... But unlike so many other record collectors, instead of spending his time making want lists and grading LPs, Magnus *listened* to 'em, then went into the studio and wrote songs as good or BETTER than pretty much anything on those collector's platters. Literally, inspired stuff. As modern-day but '70s sounding records go, maybe only that Elope record we reviewed recently could compare in convincing us it was recorded thirty years ago -- imagine that album with heavier, fuzzier guitars and more melancholic vibrations. (Another one would be The Want album Southern Lord released a few years ago).
So we were super thrilled to hear that this band was putting out a full-length. And apparently other folks were too, 'cuz we've already sold a bunch of these in the store before even reviewing it! Kinda weird, since their only previous release, a 7" single paying tribute to two of Witchcraft main man Magnus Pelander's big heroes, Roky Erickson of the 13th Floor Elevators and Pentagram's Bobby Liebling, was a hard to find, import-only release (both tracks from which are included here, along with an obscure Pentagram cover making Witchcraft's love of Liebling even more obvious). On the strength of that single, though (and the few singles and compilation tracks recorded by Magnus's previous band, Norrsken), our anticipation for Witchcraft's debut album ran high. Well, as you've already gathered, we're even more thrilled to say that it more than lives up to our expectations!
We were always big fans of Swedish blackened thrash/speed metal outfit Witchery, which makes sense considering that the group includes members of The Haunted, Seance, Satanic Slaughter, Brujeria, Arch Enemy, Nifelheim, Bloodbath, Spiritual Beggars, Mercyful Fate, etc. etc. it's like a Swedish metal supergroup, and recently, Legion joined the band, he of the mighty Marduk, but back in 2006 when this one came out, they still had their old vocalist and were trafficking in blasting, thrashing classic sounding occult blackened metal, that we dug big time. The weird thing is, the last few Witchery records got totally slagged, seemed like everybody hated 'em, especially this one, but we just realized we had a handful of these stashed away, and since we actually DO like it, we figured some of you might too. What's not to like, it's super heavy and thrashing, darkly atmospheric, the riffs are killer, it IS super polished, tight as all get out, a killer blend of modern black thrash, and retro speed metal, wild leads, plenty of midtempo groove, and some serious blasts of lightning speed thrashing that definitely verges on full black metal brutality, revisiting this again, we have to say we still dig it a LOT, and anyone into Swedish metal, black, thrash, speed or otherwise, should definitely check this one out. And pretty soon we'll review the new Legion-led 2010 Witchery as well, Witchkrieg, which we just got in stock...
Reports of the Necropolis label's demise were premature it seems, as they've bounced back with this new release from Sweden's top blackened rock n' rollers, Witchery! Their third full-length is yet another storming example of their ability to synthesize all
This much hyped Swedish retro-rockin black/thrash metal combo (starring members of The Haunted, Satanic Slaughter, and Mercyful Fate) might in fact be the best thing on Bay Area black metal label Necropolis, or at least, the most fun. On this ep they pay homage to their roots, covering tunes by Accept, WASP, Priest and Sabbath (plus there's three new 'uns). Probably worth it for their version of "Fast As A Shark" alone, especially the clever intro.
Oh man is this good. Total classic riff heavy Swedish blackness, thrashing, chugging, blasting, from one of our favorite long running Swedish hordes, who seem reinvigorated, with this, their first record in more than 4 years, and their first with new vocalist Legion, he of the mighty Marduk (and the legendary Ophthalamia), which only adds to the group's already pretty bad ass musical pedigree: Satanic Slaughter, Arch Enemy, Nifelheim, Illwill, Dismember, Mercyful Fate, Bloodbath, Seance, the Haunted, Brujeria. And if that wasn't enough, on this album they've also enlisted a serious cadre of metal guests: Kerry King from Slayer, Gary Holt and Lee Altus of Exodus, Hank Shermann of Mercyful Fate, Jim Durkin of Dark Angel, and Andy LaRoque of King Diamond!
Which all should give you an idea of what you're in for with Witchery circa 2010, super tight, ultra heavy, uber polished, blackened thrash, not raw or grim or fucked up or even kvlt, this is seriously well crafted heaviness, with incredible riffs, killer drumming, super memorable melodies, complex arrangments, BIG choruses, and some fucking fantastic guitar playing, from chugging churning black hole riffage, to soaring melodic leads, to total classic Maiden style harmonizing, and as much as we dug the old vocalist, Legion really cranks things up a notch, his hellish bellow, so powerful and intense, yet somehow still strangely melodic, not to mention how bad ass he looks in the band photo, complete with flaking rotting red skinned devil face and huge blood red devil horns.
Needless to say the metalheads around aQ have ben LOVING this shit, but be warned, as mentioned above, this is in no way underground or ultra raw or really all that black, instead, it's just seriously well crafted riff-ed out heaviness, that totally slays, so if you're in the market for some kick ass metallic crush, and love big riffs and heavy guitars, and don't mind a bit of melody and a decent production, then dig in. Definitely a new fave!
Holy shit. Doom fiends rejoice, for NWN! and BBT&D have unearthed *another* disc of rarities from the most Sabbathy of NWOBHM bands, the illustrious, infamous doom metal pioneers Witchfinder General. Like the live cd that came out last year this one is again material from the archives of original guitarist Phil Cope, who provides liner notes in the cd booklet (which is also filled with vintage photos and graphics) discussing the music herein, which consists of tracks from Witchfinder General's 1981 debut 7" single ("Burning A Sinner" b/w "Satan's Children") and their 1982 12" single Soviet Invasion (three songs: "Soviet Invasion", "Rabies", and a live one, "R.I.P."), along with four further live tracks recorded at a pub in Birmingham circa '81. The songs from the 7" and 12" are all raw, riffy, heavier-than-thou tunes bearing all the hallmarks of the material we know and love from the General's subsequent classic albums Death Penalty and Friends Of Hell. "Burning A Sinner" (which Cope mentions was often referred to as "Burning A Singer") was later re-recorded for their first full-length Death Penalty, but the other songs remained available only on those original two hard-to-find single releases -- until now. Reason enough for most Witchfinder General fans to want this! In addition, the rather rough-sounding live stuff here is a headbanging hoot, singer Zeeb Parkes charmingly and so obviously a (drunken) pupil of Ozzy's in the stage banter dep't. and vocal style too... and also they do a totally unreleased composition, "Phantasmagorical", never heard elsewhere. So definitely a bit of history there, and all the more reason that this collection of early tracks is essential for all true fans of the band and old school doom metal in general! In fact, considering that currently we can only seem to sporadically get copies of the reissue of Friends Of Hell, but never Death Penalty, this is all the more welcome of a release, being a good place as any to start for anyone keen on hearing what this cult doom band was all about.
"Death Penalty" is one of the lost metal albums from the early '80s, falling victim to its own indecisiveness, not that such is a bad thing. Never really staying "true" either to the glam metal of Hanoi Rocks, Fastway, and Motley Crue or to the shocking horror
Oh yeah! We've been eagerly awaiting this ever since we heard Buried By Time And Dust was putting it out. A deluxe box set containing 180g vinyl reissues of this cult NWOBHM band's original two full-length albums, 1982's Death Penalty (featuring classics like "Free Country" and "No Stayer") and 1983's Friends Of Hell (equally cool, with such songs as "Love On Smack" and the under-rated "Music"). Part Sabbathy doom, part psychedelic punk, and part party metal. Initially best known for their risque album covers, featuring topless witches/wenches in tableaus that combined "historical reenactment" with Page Three Girl cheesecake, WfG's lasting legacy has more to do with their Sabbathy sound, they being one of the first (and few) bands in the '80s to so overtly worship Ozzy, Tony and Co., and establish the "doom metal" genre, along with Saint Vitus, Trouble, Pentagram, and Candlemass.
With this collector's set, you get not just the two lps, and nice box to keep 'em in, but also a huge 20 page booklet featuring unpublished outtakes from those infamous album cover photo sessions, plus full lyrics, liner notes from guitarist Phil Cope, newspaper clippings, and more previously unseen photos (live and promo shots), making this quite a treat for all true WfG fans.
Here's what AQ's Jim Haynes (not our usual metal reviewer!) had to say about these two albums when we first listed compact disc reissues some years ago...
Death Penalty is one of the lost metal albums from the early '80s, falling victim to its own indecisiveness, not that such is a bad thing. Never really staying "true" either to the glam metal of Hanoi Rocks, Fastway, and Motley Crue or to the shocking horror shows of Ozzy and Iron Maiden, Witchfinder General alternated between both worlds, with the first half of Death Penalty being rowdy party numbers about drinking beer and dropping acid. These songs followed standard blues based rock, but as Witchfinder General was pretty amped up on the aforementioned substances, they were quite a bit more distorted and quick tempoed. By the time Witchfinder General gets to their anthemic "Witchfinder General," this album takes an impressive turn down the dark path of mythologically laden proto-doom metal, loaded with super-heavy (for 1982) Sabbathy grooves and aggro lyrics mostly about killing witches. They also throw in some grave robbing, just to prove how evil they are. A confused classic... Witchfinder General's second album Friends Of Hell picks up right where Death Penalty left off, with an album split evenly between the party rock elements from the New Wave of British Metal back in 1983 and their undeniable influence from Sabbath. Just as bipolar (between comical and evil) as the first album, and just as great. One of Jim's (!) favorite metal bands, and that goes for most of the rest of us here at AQ too.
Not that probably if you're in the market for this, you need US to tell you that Witchfinder General is great. Though, we were shocked, shocked, to find out not long ago that one of our good friends and customers, who shall remain unnamed, had not only never heard any Witchfinder General but had never heard OF them, despite being a huge fan of Sabbath specifically and stoner, doom, black and other metal music in general! We were like WTF? How can you not know WfG??! What are you, -not- high?
Witchfinder General's second album picks up right where "Death Penalty" left off, with an album split evenly between the party rock elements from the New Wave of British Metal back in 1983 and their undeniable influence from Sabbath. Just as bipolar
This one is for fans only. You know you're a fan if you saw the words Witchfinder General above and your heart sort of skipped a beat at the thought of a Witchfinder General record you didn't know about. Witchfinder General were pretty much the only NWOBHM band to base their entire sound on Black Sabbath, thus making them pioneers prior to pretty much all doom to follow: Candlemass, Cathedral, through to Witchcraft today. This disc, recorded live in 1983, is an awesome testament to just how kick ass the 'General were. The recording quality however is not. Thus, the for-fans-only disclaimer. The band sounded great, and the songs of course are totally killer, but as with most live records recorded from the sound board, the vocals dominate, the guitars are not as loud as they should be, and the drums sometimes get lost, but like the recent Bedemon release reviewed elsewhere this list it sort of just adds to the underground vibe (though Bedemon is recorded better than this, for sure). And who gives a shit about sound quality, this is mother fucking Witchfinder General!! Live!!! In 1983!!! It sounds a little bit like actually being at the show, but maybe hearing them from the dirty bathroom beside the stage. The way all real metal was meant to be heard! Regardless, this is an amazing (re)discovery, and along with the Bedemon disc we have been in blown out lo-fi stoner fuzz doom heaven!
ULTRA LIMITED! We only have about 20 copies and this is supposedly already out of print, so act fast!
A black noise project of unknown origin, Witchgrass could very well be some obstinant, apocalyptic cult of survivalist malcontents, shading toward animistic ecoterrorism and politically anarchic nihilism. In all likelihood, Witchgrass is the work of one dude with a crusty collection of pedals and maybe a monosynth; but it's way better just to let the imagination run with the who / what / where / when. So, we're going with Witchgrass as a cult. The aesthetics of the mysterious cabal is one that bridges the more corrosive aspects of the Cold Meat Industries agenda and a handful of bootleg copies of Broken Flag tapes (esp. those with Matthew Bower flying his fucking freak flag in the megaphone vocal department); but given this is 2013, Locrian's pall of post-black metal noise clings to the eviscerated distortion, sporadic rhythmic dirge ploddings, apparitions of raw guitar buzzsaw drone, and harrowing vocal caterwauling. Ritualized blood letting music, sure why not? We've told enough lies today; but it ain't no fabrication that Witchgrass have made one hell of a great tape in Sigil Infection for the equally mysterious Vaald Tapes imprint. Unspecified pressing, but probably out of print at the source already.
Rejoice O Doomlords! From the venerable Rise Above comes this heaving slab of UK true doom, the debut from Witchsorrow, an immediately classic sounding hunk of lumbering heaviness, of downtuned mournful melodies, of plodding rhythmic thud, totally raw stripped down monolithic doooooooooom.
Channeling the spirit of Cathedral, Candlemass, Saint Vitus and other doom purveyors, into a sound that falls quite close to that of their sonic brethren (and sistren) in Electric Wizard, Witchsorrow don't go so much for groove or Sabbathy swing, as they do for churning crush. Occasionally, like on the 6 minute "Hail To Guy Fawkes", they crank up the tempo, and unleash something that sounds more like Trouble or Acid, a sort of doom-ed speed metal, but even then it's peppered with bits of slow motion dirgery. And there are moments where the distortion gets dialed back a bit, leaving a bit of mopey meander, but it never lasts, an avalanche of crumbling distorted doom-ed riffage is never far away.
No reinventing the wheel, nothing super fucked up and far our, Witchsorrow traffic in TRUE doom, for true doomlords, who just need it to be slow and heavy and epic and majestic, all of which this most certainly is.
This much hyped super group finds the original rhythm section of aQ beloved doomlords Electric Wizard (who also played together in Ramesses) teaming up with metal legend and Rise Above Records head honcho Lee Dorrian (Cathedral, Napalm Death) for some seriously crushing, classic doom heaviness. But somehow, With The Dead doesn't sound as much like Electric Wizard or Cathedral as it does like the Melvins or Torche! The guitar is fuzzed to within an inch of its life, and the vibe is groovy, distorto sludge-pop as much as it is metal, in fact, opener "Crown Of Burning Stars" really could be a cover of either the Melvins or Torche (or maybe Floor). And while this is definitely a metal record, that sludge-poppiness seems to run throughout the whole record, along with some classic doomisms, and some near Hawkwindy heavy psych blowouts. But really, doom metal or sludge pop, or both, it fucking rules!
In terms of DOOM CRED, you really can't do much better than a split with legendary German doomlords Worship, and that's pretty much the only thing these Australians had on their doom resume before this here brand new ep.
Two long-ish songs (the cd version adds a couple short tracks, an intro and an outro), not as bleak and heavy as Worship or lots of other doom outfits, instead Wither do a sort of washed out and weary melancholic blackened doom, falling somewhere between the abject plod of ultra doom, and the shimmery black drift of suicidal depressive black metal. It's a pretty nice mix. The guitars buzz and shimmer, raw and lo-fi and not at all heavy, instead, they drone in the background, beneath a skeletal rhythm, and a echo drenched rasped vocal. The pace is indeed glacial, or at the very least, on the low side of midtempo, the melodies are melancholic, miserable, forlorn, but also surprisingly pretty. Strip the vocals away, and you'd almost have something bordering on shoegazey, and definitely some nocturnal soporific dronemetal drift.
The second of the two tracks is the blacker, the guitars a bit more jagged, the howls a bit more hellish, but again, it's dark and sorrowful and pretty in that looking-at-a-cloudy-sky-through-eyes-full-of-tears way. Suicidal black metallers (fans of Make A Change fer instance) will dig this big time, as well as all you depressive doomsters.
The extra tracks on the cd are brief but lovely, the intro very Factory Records sounding, with reverbed clean guitars, streaked with high end synths, while the outro is all harmonized guitars, and majestic melody, stretched out into a sprawling albeit brief classic doom sounding instrumental.
Of the many wonderful Wizards in the world, Electric Wizard, Glitter Wizard, The Lizard Wizard (pals with King Gizzard), etc., we've always been especially partial to The Wizar'd, they of the oddly-placed apostrophe in the name. This eccentric outfit from the antipodal island of Tasmania plays old school doom metal, sorta coming across like an idiosyncratic DIY blend of Black Sabbath (natch) and US epic metal legends Manilla Road, who are another obvious big influence. We've always dug everything from The Wizar'd, and have to say that with Ancient Tome Of Arcane Knowledge they're catchier than ever. If you liked their last album, Pathways Into Darkness, which we raved about, you'll bow down to this too. And those of you yet to experience The Wizar'd, but who, say, like Uncle Acid and Satan's Satyrs and Salem's Pot, give this a shot... 'Tis plodding gothic doom rockin', with majestic riffery, some sweet lead guitar, and, the make-or-break factor for most folks we figure, flamboyant 'clean' vocals so extremely gnarled and nasal you might imagine the singer as just a big nose - it's freaky and weird and works for us, though some might think otherwise. Definitely part of the Manilla Road comparison. All in all, amazingly hummable considering how 'wretched' The Wizar'd general vibe is. Heck, portions of "Far Away Castles", for instance, are almost psychedelically blissful.
This actually came out on vinyl over a year ago, sorry we never listed it, but finally we have the cd version, and it's got EIGHT bonus tracks anyway, all from a live show on Friday September the 13th, 2013, including songs from this album and Pathways both, along with a couple older Wizar'd faves.
**SPECIAL MINI-INTERVIEW ADDENDUM**
Since we got these (along with the awesome Outcast ep also reviewed this week) directly from the cool underground heavy metal label run by Wizar'd frontman Ol' Rusty Vintage Wizard Master, he was nice enough to do a little Q&A for us, we asked about a few things we'd been wondering, like...
AQ: So, what's the deal with the apostrophe??!
Ol' Rusty: The apostrophe is there to differentiate between stage wizards and those who possess true magickal abilities.
AQ: How would you describe the "progression" of the band over the years?
Ol' Rusty: The sound has ventured in a more dark heavy metal direction, which I believe is the true essence of doom metal. Doom metal is heavy metal. Life is death.
AQ: Can you say something about the 'scene' in Tasmania? What's it like being in a band there?
Ol' Rusty: Tasmania has limited opportunities to play live in a satisfactory manner, there is only really one venue in Hobart where we play. Most of the other bands in Hobart play in styles that do not interest me, modern stuff, boring technical death metal, etc.
AQ: Speaking of the metal scene in Tasmania, we've gotta ask, you ever encounter Striborg??
Ol' Rusty: I've seen Striborg play twice at two events put on by MONA (look that up if you haven't heard of it, pretty interesting stuff) and both times it was absolutely horrible, the guy was sitting on a wooden chair playing guitar to pre-recorded drum and vocal tracks...
AQ: We know you've got some other projects, like Tarot ('70 Uriah Heep-ish heavy prog) and Dracula (Mercyful Fate-ish black metal), if you wanna say anything about them...
Ol' Rusty: Dracula will begin spreading darkness over the mainland of Australia in 2015, while Tarot is working on their first full length album.
AQ: And what's next for The Wizar'd?
Ol' Rusty: The Wizar'd are working on new material, most likely an EP that will be released through Heavy Chains Records.
AQ: We really like the trippy artwork on Ancient Tome Of Arcane Knowledge, apparently it's by your brother Barney, can you say something about him?
Ol' Rusty: His art is truly incredible, in my opinion he is one of the most interesting and unique artists doing album covers today. He has also designed some tattoos. I strongly recommend people check out his stuff at www.waning-gibbous.com
AQ: Who is Frankie and what's up with his dungeon? [The song "Frankie's Dungeon" is one of our faves from The Wizar'd's previous album Pathways Into Darkness, and also appears on the live portion of the new cd.]
Ol' Rusty: Frankie's Dungeon is the place we must all go...
AQ: Ozzy or Dio?
Ol' Rusty: Hard to say, of course I'm a huge fan of the Ozzy Sabbath albums, and his early solo stuff, but I think overall Dio had a more consistent output, from Rainbow to Sabbath to his own band, it was all killer, and he never gave in, and never became a parody of him self. All hail RJD!
AQ: Saint Vitus or Candlemass?
Ol' Rusty: Another tough one, I think both bands have stellar albums, and boring ones. Saint Vitus for me is Scott Reagers, those albums especially Die Healing are some of my favorites of all time. With that said the first two Candlemass cannot be touched.
AQ: Favorite Manilla Road album?
Ol' Rusty: Crystal Logic!!
It's hard not to love the Wizar'd. C'mon, "Wizar'd"??? Exactly. What the fuck? Is it a verb, like "you'll get Wizar'd?" Or is it just some ancient spelling of Wizard, taken from some old dusty book of spells. Is Wizar'd darker and more evil and mysterious than the tired old traditional Wizard? Either way, the Wizar'd traffic in classic epic old school doom. Or according to the cd booklet "Crushing Gothic Slime". Massive plodding true doom from down under. The Aussies explore their inner Sabbath, each track rife with plodding tempos, mournful minor key melodies, slow motion downtuned riffs, soaring clean vocals, folky acoustic breakdowns, stonery grooves, psychdoom guitar leads, even some soaring King Diamond-ish wails, tons of reverb and loads of haunting dark ambience, think Witchfinder General, Candlemass, Reverend Bizarre, Trouble and of course Black Sabbath. The first time we listened to this, it sounded a bit too doom derivative, and the vocals were really strange, almost TOO strange, but the more we listen to this, the more we find ourselves returning again and again and again, and now those weird vocals, sort of Ozzy meets the chantlike drone of Om are quite possibly our favorite part. Recommended for the demented and doomed!
Can we write a Wizar'd review without mentioning the weird unexplained apostrophe in their name? No we can't!
With that behind us, here's what we think about the latest lethargic lamentation let loose by these lords of lo-fi doom metal, down n' out and drowned in sorrow Down Under. Their new album, Infernal Wizardry (hey, shouldn't that be Infernal Wizar'dry??) features eight new, agonized outpourings of distorted dirge. Eight Sabby slabs of fuzz filled sludge, with spacey psychedelic lead guitar, trudging beats, and misery-evoking vox that vary from an Ozzyish warble to a deep slowed-down mumble to a more punkish shout. Fans of Saint Vitus, Reverend Bizarre, Electric Wizard and of course Black Sabbath are of course the sort of folks likely to become ensorcelled by the oozing audio of this Wizar'd. At least, those that can appreciate true, traditional doom at its most raw and primitive.
As serious and sincere as their music sounds (tracks like "Witchwither" and "Depressive Holiday" are truly moving, morose monuments), the Wizar'd obviously have a (drunken?) sense of humor too, judging by their slightly silly pseudonyms: Ol' Rusty Vintage Wizard Master is the vocalist and lead guitarist, Blackie the Crimson Heretic Of A Thousand Eyes plays bass, Iron Tyrant is on the drums, and Sir Nunn Piss handles the other guitar parts. Heck you've gotta have *some* fun, when you otherwise seem as negative and dejected as these suffering dudes do!
They pick up the pace a bit on the aggressive "Crushing Gothic Slime" (which, as we now realize, is NOT how they label their music, but rather an expression of animosity toward Goths) but mostly this is glacial and gloomy... culminating in the nearly 13 minute epic "The Megalomaniac". What we really like about these guys (besides the apostrophe) is how their poverty-stricken sound works towards the dual goals of doominess and drugginess. What Wizar'd lack in production, they make up for in feeling. It's old school doom done with the same fucked up aesthetic of our favorite bizarre, far underground black metal. Utterly, wretchedly recommend'd.
Our favorite apostrophe'd doomsters from Down Under return! We've had a heck of a time tracking down the compact disc version of this, haven't been able to get it in yet (their supposed US distro won't email us back, helloooooo?), but thankfully Buried By Time And Dust just put the album out on deluxe vinyl, we got it from them along with Solstice's New Dark Age reish we reviewed last list. Usually BBTAD do reissues of classic doom (Witchfinder General, Pagan Altar, etc.) but they decided to get ahead of the curve here and release what simply sounds like something they'd eventually be reissuing anyway, if they're still doing this in 20-30 years.
With Pathways To Darkness, their second full-length, Tasmania's most Sabbathy DIY doommongers offer up a crude, yet catchy album that posers will doubtless despise. Normal folks will find the vocals too weird and nasal, the riffs too raw and remedial. But those that don't mind their doom a little damaged and psychedelic, ought to dig this wretched and rockin', emotional and eccentric, seven song opus. Less murky than some past recordings, this is, in fact, perhaps The Wizar'd at their poppiest. Seriously, slumberously.
There's lots for the True (and Truly Demented) Doom fan to love here... The slo-mo pop of "Living Dead". The melancholic triumph of "Rainbow's End". The almost gothic epic "Frankie's Dungeon". The tearful trudge of "Some Like It Dead". The spooky, droning Hammer Horror keyboards that herald "Disease From The East"... You gotta delve in, and revel in the sheer doominess of it all, that in its own outsider, down under way, retardedly rivals Electric Wizard, Reverend Bizarre, and Saint Vitus. Folks who enjoyed the recent, ridiculous, Sabbath-centric Furze might also find this to their liking as well.
By the way, there's been a few lineup changes for The Wizar'd since their previous album from 2008, with rhythm guitarist Sir Nun Piss having left the band, causing bassist Blackie The Crimson Heretic Of A Thousand Eyes to move over to guitar, alongside vocalist and lead guitarist Ol' Rusty Vintage Wizard Master, with Iron Tyrant on drums, and new bass recruit Tangerine Dream holding down the low end (of which there's plenty). Yes, those are their stage names, and aren't they great?!
Ultimately, though, even with the obvious sense of humor such names convey, we suspect that any such frivolity on the part of the The Wizar'd is part of a "sad clown" scenario, y'know? This is DOOM to the core, in the truest sense. Feel it, folks.
Being on BBTAD, it's a nicely done 180 gram vinyl slab, packaged with a booklet and a giant obi, AND they've included 3 live bonus tracks not on the cd version: "Crushing Gothic Slime", "Burned Lord", and "Smouldering Sinners"!
The return of our favorite apostrophe challenged true dooooom overlords, Wizar'd! We've yet to figure out why exactly that apostrophe is in there. All we can figure is that the band name is actually a verb, as in "You have been Wizar'd!!!!"
Regardless, these guys rule, fans of classic doom, Sabbath, Pentagram, and the like need to bee into this band. After a brief organ intro, complete with creepy guitar harmonics, the band launch into "Smouldering Sinners" [sic], total classic old school doom, killer riffing, really strange vocals, nasal and whiney, but super distinctive and cool, in much the same way Ozzy's vocals always were. Plus the recording is bizarre as well, making the drums sound a bit like a drum machine. The flipside is their theme song "The Wizar'd" and is more of the same, plodding classic true metal doom, the vocals less whiney, but just as cool.
And if there's any question as to where these guys are coming from, the liner notes offer up the dedication to the "masters of metal: Manilla Road, Pagan Altar and Death SS." Hell yeah! ----* ----* Compilations : ----*
Normally, you can assume it's Andee or Allan reviewing the metal offerings around here. But Jeff was so unexpectedly entranced by this new disc (their fourth, we're told) from German speed metal outfit Wizard, that he had to have a go... With songs like "Drink
Say revery shoddy, Blizzard Trifle fizz rack!!! Err... Sorry, what we meant to say is: Hey everybody, Wizard Rifle is back!!! Excuse us, it's just a very disorienting experience listening to this band, and things like logic and language tend to lose all meaning. But of course, anyone familiar with these Portland-spawned nutjobs first record Speak Loudly Say Nothing (which we rightly raved about when it came out) knows the sweaty shaky delirium that comes with Wizard Rifle's gonzo progged out noise rockin' math metal, and this record certainly shows the band in no danger of relenting in their sonic/psychological assault. In fact if anything, Here In The Deadlights might find them in an even more venomous, aggressive and ultimately metal mode. And possibly even a little more, dare we say... serious?? Sure, there are still song titles like "Buzzsaw Babes" and "Paul the Sky Tyrant", but there's also a consistent rumble of dissonant dread running across this record's five tracks, as well a genuinely frightening and twisted fury that brings to mind the aggro-avant-heaviness of early Mastodon and Today Is The Day (whose new album we've reviewed elsewhere on this list!). Across the album's relatively brief running time there are also hints of Sabbathian stoned out dirges, apocalyptic Neurosisian tribalisms, High On Fire-ish ale-soaked riffery, and Botch-esque teched out hardcore wizardry. But it's a blink and you'll miss it affair, as the songs seem to speed by in a whiplash blur of incomprehensible time signatures, while at the same time the band's use of repetition can induce a sort of hypnotic fever-trance, like being pumped full of morphine while someone shakes you by the shoulders and screams in your face for half an hour straight. Like we said... a disorienting experience! But one you'll want to experience again as soon as this record's over...
Vinyl version upcoming soon, btw.
This is another one of those cases, where we were sort of obsessed before we even heard a note of music. They're called Wizard Rifle, which is simultaneously the raddest and stupidest band name ever, they claim to play 'scrap metal', they have songs with titles like "Tears Won't Soften Steel" and "Leathery Gentlemen", they even have a song named for legendary fantasy artist Frank Frazetta, and then there's the band photo, which has one guy dressed like and old timey dandy in a rocking chair holding a rifle, while the other guy is wearing zebra print spandex, is wearing hand made wings, is painted all over and is brandishing a scythe, that band photo could have gone either way actually, but when combined with all the other stuff, we had a feeling...
And holy shit, sometimes you CAN judge a book by its cover, and these Portland scrap metallers totally destroy, taking their cues from groups like Karp, that sort of relentlessly pounding metallic churn, and Lightning Bolt, that sort of frenzied hyper prog bombast, in fact, in some ways, that's the perfect equation to describe these guys, Karp plus Lightning Bolt. BUT, and this is critical, they take those two sounds, and totally make them their own, they're definitely as frantic and mathed out as Lightning Bolt, and maniacally metallic as Karp, but they've created something even more poppy and proggy, and totally wild and fucking over the top fun. One of those rare bands that sound like they just might be one of the funnest bands to see EVER. We'd happily base that on the first track along, the 6+ minute hyper-pop-prog-metal workout that is "Tears Won't Soften Steel", which begins with a little flurry of hazy guitar, which is then joined by some furious drum pound, all wreathed ins swirling bleeps and bloops, the guitar offering up shards of angular riffage, soaring and squiggly, before finally launching into some seriously Karp-ed out krunch, but here wedded to some crooned Torche-like pop song vox, a weird combination that kills, the Karp-ness at times is uncanny, but then the band will explode into crazy mathiness, or some weird sing along start-stops, or some doomy metallic chug and churn, and then some awesome harmonized guitars that make this sound like the heaviest pop record of all time, the sort of part that sends you diving for the rewind button the second it finishes, thankfully, the band hammer away at that part, soaring and melodic and so catchy, before the final super rocking sing along finish.
And while the opener might be our favorite, the rest of the record is fast catching up, "Frazetta" has the coolest heaviest opening, before locking into some swirling dizzying pop infused metallic mayhem, there are samples too, and the band seem to flit from part to part at the drop of a dime, so tight, so heavy, and yeah, so totally fun. From there on out, the band dip their toes into some brooding minimal shimmer, only to see it splinter into a slithery sludge pop groove, with some haunting harmonized vocals, while elsewhere they take frantic frenzied blasts of metal and pepper them with progged out breakdowns, and wrap them in surprisingly poppy vox, and finally, they finish things off with "Leathery Gentlemen" which in some ways sounds basically like a culmination of everything that came before, grinding metallic crush, blasting sludge pop bliss, soaring harmonized vox, wild dueling guitars, mathed out progginess, and a surprise bit of swirling psychedelic backwards guitar flecked drift, only to explode into a blastbeat driven stretch of soaring metal majesty, that might be the most furious part of the whole record, only to devolve in the last minute into a warped woozy, increasingly dizzying noise pop freakout.
We've been dying for this one, the latest from German post rock avant metallers Woburn House, whose last Paradigms release Message To Ourselves Outside The Dreaming Machine totally blew us away, with its weird mix of black buzz, post rock drift, metallic prog and noisy discordant math rock. And while on first listen, it seems not too much has changed, as we get further into the record (heck, further into the first song!), it seems that Woburn House have indeed begun exploring a new sonic direction...
It only takes a few minutes for this record to establish it's utter dominance, beginning with a drifty lilting spidery guitar melody, soft and jangly and minor key, before slipping into a lurching downtuned chug, all stop start crunch, before slipping back into the opening drift, this time accompanied by some skittery rhythms, and so it goes until finally the vocals come in, a warm ethereal crooned harmony, with a distinctly shoegaze-y vibe, way down in the mix, allowing the song to grow more jagged, and get a bit Voivod-y, before finally stretching out into a gorgeous looped sounding sun dappled post metal drift, all soaring chiming guitars, and those warm vocals, the track finally winding down in a swirling swell of epic sun dappled psychedelia. Wow. Okay, so yeah, things have changed quite a bit, in as much as WH have managed to expand their sound even further, and taken their metallic sound in a distinctly less overtly metallic direction.
The more we listen, the more it becomes evident that this record is much more mellow and poppy, than it's more metallic predecessor, the core sound falling somewhere between the twisted blackened metallic pop of Lifelover and the grandiose doom pop of Katatonia, the result is awesome, emotional, intense, epic, with the songs often building to huge chaotic climaxes, but just as often loping along dreamily, and metalheads fear not, while it is poppier, there is still plenty of crushing heaviness, gnarled riffage, and lurching chug to balance the blissy mathy pop and haunting shimmery drift that makes up much of the rest of the record.
"Globus" is some dark dreamy spacedrone, with its tribal drumming, dense fuzz bass, effects drenched guitars, all locked into a looped motorik groove that wouldn't be that out of place on a Expo 70 or White Hills record. "Transmitter" brings the metal back, but definitely drifts into some serious Katatonia territory, with some woozy drifty almost-prog, occasionally giving way to huge swells of metallic heft, and more of those warm crooned vocals, the entire song wreathed in a gauzy washed out sheen.
And finally, there's the 23 minute closing track "Transformer", which opens with the most black metal bit on the whole records, a buzzing blast, peppered with warbly minor key melodies, and warm swirling drones, but at its core, this is pounding and thrashing and heavy, until before you know it, the band have shifted gears once again, unfurling a glimmery driftscape of crystalline guitar and warm blackened ambience, when the track does kick back in, it's in a whole new form, a cool, lumbering post rock tangle of metallic buzz and complex start stop arrangements, there's even a long stretch of that sort of blown out Jesu-style metalgaze, before everything drops off, and all that's left is a field recording of birds, and cars, the side of the highway presumably, people talking, all manner of ambient sound, eventually the song does drift back in, and finishes with a few minutes of woozy laid back slow core pop drift, hazy and weary and like much of the rest of the record, dreamy and melodic.
Folks looking for lots of buzzing blackness or crushing chugging metallic pummel, might not find enough of that here, but for folks who love their metal infused with all manner of pop, and dig stuff like Amesoeurs, Katatonia, Lifelover, Alcest, and that sort of stuff, will definitely dig this a LOT.
