Saturday 6 March 2021

ELK WITCH ~ THE MOUNTAIN ......


"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, brown paper packages tied up with strings, these are a few of my favorite things" sang Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music and although those things are not exactly what rocks Desert Psychlist's boat we kind of get where she was coming from. All of us have certain things that will put a smile on our faces and lift our spirits, for Julie it was roses and kittens for us it's the sound of  warmly fuzzed guitar riffs, the low thrum of bass guitar motifs and the steady beat of sticks hitting skins and metal. It seems that Oregon three piece Elk Witch also knows what pushes our buttons because they've included all of our "favourite things" and more on their debut EP "The Mountain".


Elk Witch are Deven Andersen (guitar/vocals); Darren Wostenberg (bass) and Joe Coitus (drums), three guys from Medford, Oregon who call themselves "a progressive rock band with hints of doom and grunge". Now that statement , especially the "progressive" part, may lead you into expecting music that leans towards the complex and the complicated but what you actually get is a very competent heavy rock band who can comfortably trade off crunching riffs and thunderous rhythms but are also not afraid to occasionally step outside of themselves and take a few chances. Having said that "The Mountain" opens its account with " The Woodsmen" a song that does not pretend to be anything other than what it is and what it is is a damn fine rock song driven by a solid thundering rhythm section and drenched in the kind vintage wah, fuzz and distortion you only usually hear on albums by obscure 70's proto-metal bands. Vocals throughout "The Mountain" are handled by guitarist Andersen and although not particularly powerful they are melodic, effective and perfectly pitched to fit the early 70's vibe that (to our ears) is the core of the bands overall sonic attack. Of the three following songs, "Greybeard Arsenal", "Coyote and the Wind's Daughter" and "Llao's Island" it is probably the last one that best exemplifies Elk Witch's flair for going off on tangents into more adventurous waters. Wostenberg introduces the song with a deliciously liquid bass line which is then joined by Andersen and Coitus, the guitarist laying down an ear catching phased out circular guitar motif beneath which the drummer adds complimentary intricate percussive touches. As the song slowly progresses things begin to get gradually a little more intense and a little more heavier before suddenly, and without warning, the hammer goes down and the band explode into a gnarly proto-metallic groove with Andersen telling us, in distinctive tones, a tale steeped in Native American mythology,  his impassioned vocal backed by a musical backdrop that thrums and fizzes with a raw and raucous energy.


When we think of progressive in musical terms we tend to think of the convoluted, complex and sometimes over technical music of Yes, ELP and Genesis but progressive also means moving forward, a gradual shift towards something better, in that sense it can be argued that Elk Witch are a progressive band. "The Mountain" is without a doubt a good solid release full of all the things that we love in rock music but it's not a GREAT release, that GREAT release will come later when this band have "progressed" a little further down the road
Check it out ....

© 2021 Frazer Jones

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