This is definitely the year of Doom Metal here with us. I’ve lost track of how many we’ve received so far. But they are plenty. The most wondrous thing is that each band has its own dissimilar way, its own dissimilar music. That is why Metal Music is so rich. Witchrot “Live in the Hammer,” for instance, feature a female vocalist which is pretty rare when we come to Doom Metal. If memory serves right, and I’m sure it doesn’t, it’s the first we’ve got here. I can’t remember other by now. This kind of combination is one of my favorite. I guess, as I’vew said zillion of times, that the contrast of a female vocal with Metal Music is one of the best of the Metal world. And, in this very particular case, it gets more incendiary due to the features Witchrot’s instrumentals showcase. To some extent, the band addresses to Coven or even Jefferson Starship. “Dug Your Grave Strega” and “Medley (Druid Smoke Pt1 (The Keeper) Crypt ReaperBurn Me Down)” do tell this story. The influences of the 1870s are present strongly here with more overdrive and low-tuned guitars. It’s great to get a Doom Metal band that doesn’t sound as Black Sabbath. Great and rare, unfortunately.
Interestingly, “Live in the Hammer” combines their tracks with the longest in the beginning to go diminishing each by each. The eighteen minute “Medley (Druid Smoke Pt1 (The Keeper) Crypt ReaperBurn Me Down)” welcomes the fan with a very dark and gloomy atmosphere. My dear child of the night might feel the cold misty that comes from the track. The mournful mood the track brings is one of the things the fan finds at once. More interestingly, Witchrot don’t abuse of the shoegazed and slow cadences all the time. The tracks do step up a little to give an extra punch to their songs. “Who Scare You” is worth its tittle totally with the guitars playing solos freely all the time with an overtone that I like so much, a combination of fuzz with some echoes – or chorus I really don’t know. Then comes “Colder Hands” where my dear child of the night can almost feel them trying to strangle you. Lea Reto’s voice here is fantastic and the mood created by the instrumentals could be in any soundtrack of a horror movie. Here her voice gets much more near Coven’s Esther “Jinx” Dawson. The girl sounds fantastic here.
“Live in the Hammer” is heavier than hell. It’s impossible to listen to the album and don’t get any goosebumps.
Witchrot “Live in the Hammer” will be released on March 10th.
Track Listing:
- Medley (Druid Smoke Pt1 (The Keeper) Crypt ReaperBurn Me Down)
- Dug Your Grave Strega
- Acedia
- Who Scare You
- Colder Hands
- Million Shattered Swords
Watch “Colder Hands” official music video here:
