ALBUM REVIEW: Deathcult Of The Snake – Witchsnake
The Lombardy region of Italy has had a long and tumultuous history; at its heart lies the city of Milan, and from its earliest settlement in around 590 BC to its modern day status as one of the fashion capitals of the world, it has seen it all. With a metal scene that is home to the likes of LACUNA COIL and BULLDOZER, there is a vast array of genres on display on this eccentric and creative city. The latest addition to this vibrant scene are the purveyors of greasy biker doom WITCHSNAKE. Tearing up the underground with their high-octane and fuzzed-out doom, the Milanese duo return with their sophomore album Deathcult Of The Snake.
Following on from their 2022 self-titled debut album, this relatively fresh duo of Joe (drums) and Al (guitars, bass, vocals) have been fastidious students of the stoner and doom genres. Bringing the grimy, biker-esque and horror themed sleaze of ELECTRIC WIZARD and combining it with the astral projections of HAWKWIND, the duo weave effortlessly in and out of pummelling fuzz and spiralling psychedelia. Deathcult Of The Snake harks back to metal’s danger days, when the Satanic Panic was in full flow and bands were being inspired by the horror and biker films of the 1970s. Earthy, smoking and greasy, the album wouldn’t sound out of place in a dive bar where the smell of weed and booze knocks you out upon entry.
While their debut album set the scene for what the band were about, it was very much in the style of ELECTRIC WIZARD’s seminal album Funeralopolis – huge riffs and swaggering grooves played perpetually at slow tempos and half time speeds. By comparison, Deathcult Of The Snake has a bit more bite and a sense of urgency about it. It resembles a baying beast, frothing at the mouth, snarling and snapping. There is also an injection of heavy bluesiness in the duo’s riffs, which accentuates the swaggering grooves that they’ve brought across from their debut album.
Ultimately, this album has been drenched in murky and grimy three-day-old bong water; it is designed to be consumed while you’re completely out of it. The scuzzy distortion consumes you, whilst the weight of the pummelling drums crushes you with impunity. Al’s frazzled, gritty vocals sound like the scatty ramblings of a drug-addled wizard who has been traversing the astral plains on a clapped out Harley Davidson chopper. WITCHSNAKE have upped the ante on their sophomore album and sound much more at home with a faster pace and occasional forays into psychedelic jamming.
WITCHSNAKE have made an effort to do something different on this album. A lot of bands tend to copy the formula of their first album in the hope that it brings them the same success, but in WITCHSNAKE’s case they’ve pushed the boundaries and one-upped their debut. Deathcult Of The Snake feels heavier, more dynamic and exciting. It feels like they’ve consumed copious amounts of adrenaline and speed to bust out of the depths of the hellish cavern which they were metaphorically trapped in.
With a foray of riffs that would have the smell of burning rubber, Outlaw sets the chaotic and frenzied tone for the rest of the album. It also serves as a first glimpse of this new look WITCHSNAKE. After a moment of psychedelic jamming and another gut-punch of riffs, The Iron Cross Burns follows Outlaw with a swaggering, bluesy groove and grimy distortion. Continuing the pummelling riffs, Al’s harsh and croaked vocals combined with Joe’s pounding drums, the album begins to pummel you into submission as you succumb to its sleazy charm. Inject The Venom brings the energy level down slightly, opting for a slow and eerie psychedelic introduction before it gets ramped up to 11 with another bruising doom riff that comes out of nowhere.
Black Star takes it up another gear much the same way that Outlaw does at the beginning of the album. Ballistic riffs and drums hurtle towards you at 100mph and there’s nothing you can do about it. This is followed by the eight-and-a-half-minute title track Deathcult Of The Snake – a fuzzed-out desert jam that sits surprisingly well amongst the unbridled chaos of the other songs on the album. Battlescars The Great Purifier is a dark and brooding track that makes you feel like you should be crushing zombie skulls in medieval dungeons, while closer Laughing Among The Ruins feels like you’re walking through the last vestiges of civilisation, a spaced-out jam track that lets you recover after a relentless doom beating.
WITCHSNAKE have unleashed a beastly sophomore album that will delight old school doom fans. Grimy and dirty, this isn’t an album for the more hippie stoner, but the ELECTRIC WIZARD style stoner.
Rating: 8/10
Deathcult Of The Snake is set for release on December 15th via Helter Skelter Productions/Regain Records.
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