By: Richard Maw
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 25/05/2018
Label: Svart Records
The record can most certainly be filed amongst Witch
Mountain's best and will slot right into the collections of doom heads
alongside The Wounded Kings, Electric Wizard, Cathedral, Castle and so on. This
is slow and bluesy doom of the finest vintage with a vocalist who is fantastic.
“Witch Mountain” CD//DD//LP
track listing:
1). Midnight
2). Mechanical World
3). Burn You Down
4). Hellfire
5). Nighthawk
The Review:
A
doom institution of the last twenty years, Witch Mountain are back with their
first full length post Uta Plotkin's departure. Kayla Dixon has stepped up to
the mic and she absolutely delivers a vocal tour de force on this low, slow
record. The bass is as deep as a mine shaft (supplied by another new addition
to the line up- Justin Brown) and the whole sound consists of self assured
performances alongside a very big sound.
Whether
you will like this album depends entirely on your liking of doom; if you like Sabbath,
you will probably like this. Likewise, if you like Sleep... ditto. Hell, even those
at the more sludge end of the doom spectrum will find much to enjoy here. Dixon
employs a ferocious growl at times to go with her crystal clear soulful vocals
(double tracked for effect at times) which should appeal to all sides of the
doom coin.
It's
not perfect- the pace is uniformly slow and the fact that there are only five
tracks here might irk some listeners- even if track five edges towards the
fifteen minute mark! Opener “Midnight”
tells you much of what you need to know
about the new record; it's weighty and atmospheric in equal measure, while
utilising a lot of what is best about the genre in terms of sound and themes.
From there, “Mechanical World”
successfully captures the right mood and the record is starting to take firm
form.
The
sound is darker for “Burn You Down”
and the pace is no quicker. “Hellfire”
offers up a two and a half minute interlude of acoustic and folksy melancholy
which acts as the perfect bridge to what is the grand finale.
Clearly,
the closing “Nighthawk” is the heavy
artillery here; a sprawling epic of huge proportions- but the rest of the album
fits together perfectly and the five tracks absolutely work as a whole piece.
The record can most certainly be filed amongst Witch Mountain's best and will
slot right into the collections of doom heads alongside The Wounded Kings, Electric Wizard,
Cathedral,
Castle
and so on. This is slow and bluesy doom of the finest vintage with a vocalist
who is fantastic.
“Witch Mountain” is available here
