Not a lot gets past us here at Desert Psychlist but Swamplord's latest release "Witchland" nearly did, which is especially galling as we covered the bands previous release "Tombstone" on these very pages. Thankfully our fellow Doom Charts contributor Doomcakes (Screaming From The Heavy Underground) saved our blushes by alerting us to its release via the Doom Charts contributors private Facebook page which in turn prompted this review. For those not familiar with Swamplord the band are a Russian trio hailing from Murom consisting of Ilya Mitin (vocals); Konstantin Igonin (bass) and Sergey Chizhov (guitar), as with their previous releases Swamplord make no mention of a drummer in their album notes so we can only assume some clever programming is involved in the recording process or their drummer wishes to remain anonymous due being a wanted criminal or involved in covert operations, either way there are drums involved and they are pretty damn solid. That cleared up lets talk about the new album.
Opening number "D,T.W.S.M" does away with any niceties and gets down and dirty right from the off, guitar nerds will adore the fuzzy tones of the guitar and bass decorating this stoner-doomic tome while vocal buffs will surely pick up on the grunge-like dynamics of its chorus, there is also a pretty nifty soaring guitar solo to contend with here too that cuts through the fuzz and distortion surrounding it like a hot knife through butter. A short burst of feedback announces the arrival of next track "Initiation", followed by a deeply distorted stoner meets proto-doom groove supported by solid heavy percussion, this is an instrumental number but its lack of vocals becomes hardly noticeable thanks to its searing lead work. Third track "At The Altar Of Pan" features a gritty swinging vocal melody adorning a groove that sways between brutal and lysergic while title track "Witchland", another instrumental, begins funky and loose and then somewhere down the line morphs into this tight and gnarly doomic behemoth and even more surprisingly makes that transition almost seamlessly. "Heretics" sees Swamplord flexing their Sabbathian muscles musically while also dipping their toes into alternative metal waters vocally, it is followed by "Alchemy" a track that sees the band repeating much the same process but adding some psychedelic texturing into the mix. Little touches of heavy bluesiness ease their way into both "Shadows From The Hills" and its follow up "We Sow The Darkness" with both songs boasting a more subtle and refined vocal delivery. Swamplord close "Witchland" with "Fuzzcraft", an instrumental we at Desert Psychlist are interpreting as an ode to the art of distortion delivered via the medium of doom, a discipline these guys are black belts in.
On first glance the artwork for Swamplord's "Witchland" looks fairly quaint and pastoral but look closer and you will start to notice that things are not quite as as quaint as they might first seem, a second glance at the image revealing that the comely looking maiden in the foreground is being sized up by a malevolent looking ram while in the background a hag-like figure looms menacingly. The painting/drawing is pretty much a visual summing up of what to expect when dropping a needle or pushing play on "Witchland",i.e. brief moments of serenity surrounded on all sides by encroaching wickedness.
Check it out ....
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