ALBUM REVIEW: Future’s Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate – Bell Witch

Doom has always been a genre to take its time, eking out every second, building tension and atmosphere until a huge cathartic conclusion. There are a number of bands who take that formula to the extreme, releasing whole albums that consist of just one song. It may not be unique to doom – prog rock bands have been doing it for years – but more recently, the likes of SLEEP, OAK and ORME have taken up the mantle. One such golden example is BELL WITCH‘s essential 2017 release Mirror Reaper, which set the new standard; 83 minutes of glacial, apocalyptic funeral doom that was steeped in emotion and heavier than a black hole, but delivered in their entrancing, hypnotic style that wouldn’t let you go, like an actual black hole. Now, after more than five years and several side projects, their new album Future’s Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate is here – not only as a chronological successor to that masterpiece, but a spiritual one as well.

Before we get into the music, here’s what you need to know: it’s another 83 minutes of heart-rending and spine-tingling funeral doom, and as the ‘Part 1’ of the title may have revealed, is the first part of BELL WITCH‘s planned Future’s Shadow trio of albums. When parts two and three will see the light of day is anybody’s guess at the moment (and we are still waiting on Part 2 of their Stygian Bough collaboration with AERIAL RUIN, thank you very much). If BELL WITCH remain true to their word on this new series though, then we’ve already heard the ending, because the third part will loop back around to where this one begins, creating an endless loop of misery and torment. 

That loop has a starting point for now though: an organ plays a haunting and melancholic melody and for much of these opening 10 minutes, there’s not a whole lot else that comes with it; once again, BELL WITCH have lured you in and ensnared you. When they do deliver the killer blow, it’s by way of tortured guitars that strain through and solitary drum blasts that erupt into the pitch black atmosphere that has been brewing. So far, so BELL WITCH.

It would be grossly reductive though for us to paint The Clandestine Gate as just another BELL WITCH song. From a production standpoint alone, there are numerous differences, chief among which is that the vocals are far less ‘active’ then we’ve heard before, sitting deeper in the mix and blending into everything else going on around them. Previously there was all the atmosphere of the soundscapes with vocals neatly placed on top as the garnish, but here they are a core component of the nightmarish soup that is The Clandestine Gate. It makes for an even more engrossing experience and one that places you right in the centre of it all.

But the main thing that BELL WITCH do so well – and has long been their strength – is to make you feel things. What each listener feels while listening to The Clandestine Gate will differ depending on their own circumstances, but this writer felt everything from desperate loneliness in those desolate opening passages, and triumphant acceptance when they go full heavy midway through, to sheer awe and wonder at what’s to come as Future’s Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate sighs its final few breaths. While this may not quite have that big, cathartic payoff toward the end of the song, it’s that ability to make every component emotive that keeps you engrossed and enthralled.

All told, Future’s Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate is another staggering achievement in the life and times of BELL WITCH. Their legacy was already set as one of doom metal’s most important bands and while this may not match Mirror Reaper, it is another phenomenal chunk of exercised patience and emotional heft. Do yourself a favour and carve out an afternoon to experience this in full – and then get planning for the whole week you’ll need to process the final, full series once we have it.

Rating: 8/10

The Clandestine Gate: Part 1 is out now via Profound Lore.

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