When Desert Psychlist first stumbled across Witchrot, via their debut full length album "Hollow", what we discovered was a band who played doom unlike any other bands in the genre, a band whose music could get caustic and heavy when the mood took them but a band who could also deliver moments of serene tranquillity and haunting beauty. That mixing of causticity, heaviness, tranquillity and beauty resonated strongly with us at Desert Psychlist resulting in the bands music becoming a regular go-to when looking to sate our need for dark wafting grooves with a considerable amount of weight behind them. Given this information you can imagine our delight when news reached us that the band were about to release a new album, that album, "Soul Cellar" (Buzzed and Fuzzed Records/Majestic Mountain Records), has now dropped and if you thought their previous output was impressive then this album is going to blow your minds!
Opening number "Possession Deepens" bears a title that is not only in keeping with Witchrot's penchant for penning songs with satanic/occult themes but also goes a long way in describing Desert Psychlist's growing obsession with the bands music. The song begins with a low rumbling Nick Dolphin bass motif accompanied by some otherworldly keyboard textures from Patrick Sherrard and is soon joined by the respective drums and guitar of Myles Deck and Peter Turik in a groove that feels hazy and somewhat jazzy and sees vocalist Lea Reto adding to that feeling of jazziness with a vocal that is hard not to describe as sultry. This is of course Witchrot so of course things are going to get a little loud sooner or later and when they do it is not so much a hammer going down kind of shift in dynamics as more a subtle swelling in intensity and volume, the guitars getting a little crunchier, the drums heavier but with the vocals, apart from a few soaring flights into the upper register, surprisingly still maintaining their initial sultriness, something that has the added effect of making the songs closing transition back to its jazzier beginnings seem seamless and smooth. Next song "Tombstone" begins life with a stoner(ish) guitar riff but then a plaintive vocal wail accompanied by thundering drums and growling bass see things take on a more proto-metallic vibe, albeit a proto-metallic vibe that is not quite reflected in the vocals which despite their frequent flights into the upper registry have a swaying bluesiness about them. Third track "Throat Cutter" is neither jazzy or bluesy in fact it may even border on some sort of "core" but what type we at Desert Psychlist have yet to fully work out, either way its is an absolutely exhilarating, if at times manic, ride from its start to its finish. "Die Alone" is a thrumming ensemble workout, graced with a superb Reto vocal, that shifts gears faster than a F1 driver but leaves ample spaces for Turik and Sherrard to fill with all manner of weird and wonderful guitar and keyboard wizardry. The beauty we spoke of in this reviews opening piece truly comes to fruition on "Green River" with Reto showing us that along with soaring intensity and husky jazziness she can also do emotional fragility, a trait she demonstrates to wonderous effect against the songs languid and low key musical backdrop. Last but one comes "Spineless" a song that sees Turik, Deck, Dolphin and Sherrard laying down a humongous barrage of dank and diverse doomic groove for Reto to decorate with her distinctive vocal stylings, her scream of "spineless" at the songs close is guaranteed to raise the hairs on the necks of even the most jaded of dooms "heard it all, seen it all before" brigade. Witchrot close things out with title track "Soul Cellar" a song which incorporates all the many facets of their sound in one epic piece, lilting atmospherics, thundering sludgy heaviness and spacious off-kilter psychedelics all topped off with a jaw dropping vocal, its spine-chilling!
#note: Nick Dolphin plays bass on "Soul Cellar" but at the time of writing Witchrot's current bassist is Jon Ferraria.
When reviewing Witchrot's 2023 live in the studio offering "Live In The Hammer" we described their sound as being gnarled twisted and insidious and the bands latest release "Soul Cellar" has not changed our opinion one iota. Witchrot describe what they do as "hex drugs and rock'n'roll" a description that, for those not familiar with their music, might suggest they jam grooves of an occult(ish) nature along the same lines as those pioneered by the likes of Blood Ceremony, The Devil's Blood and Jex Thoth but that assumption would be way wide of the mark. Yes there are elements of ethereality and feyness to be found in Witchrot's sound but you will also find anger, pain and brutality and with "Soul Cellar" Witchrot have taken that combination to a whole new level of impressive.
Check it out ....
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