ALBUM REVIEW: The Weight Of Death – Witchpit
Bringing together high octane stoner riffs reminiscent of HIGH ON FIRE with the moody and brooding subtly of NEUROSIS, tied together with a healthy dose of South Carolina fury, WITCHPIT seek to assert their dominance on their highly anticipated debut album. With a punk sensibility and the utilisation of classic stoner metal tones, The Weight Of Death promises to push the genre in a new, exciting direction. The significant classic stoner tone worship alongside the passionate use of vintage gear serves to amplify the heady mix of big riffs, BLACK SABBATH-style leads and raw vocals. After making waves in the United States and being heralded by death metal heavyweights NILE, WITCHPIT are on course for a swampy, sludgy, South Carolinian path to stoner metal domination, one with all the Southern hospitality of a sharp-toothed swamp alligator.
It is easy to see where the hype for this band came from, crafting a sound that takes you straight back to the early days of the 1990s New Orleans (NOLA) sludge/stoner beginnings to dine out on laid back grooves embedded in the thick fuzz of a vintage amp. However, WITCHPIT’s brooding and thoughtful approach alongside its sheer ferocity sees the old and new schools of sludge collide in scintillating fashion. The variation of slow and fast dynamics throughout the album accentuates the already masterful blend of caveman riffs and southern, bluesy grooves, which if it was distilled into a whiskey would have the taste of gunpowder and oak barrels.
The album is dark, belligerent and hostile throughout, as it lyrically describes a vast array of apocalyptic imagery, fundamentally asking the question of who is to blame for all the world’s ills. The band create this imagery by utilising higher and lower harmony riffs in the same vein as NOLA sludge pioneers DOWN, with a significant inspiration from Kirk Windstein’s CROWBAR thrown in for good measure. With crushing riff after crushing riff, The Weight Of Death makes sure WITCHPIT are placed firmly in the conversation of sludge bands alongside such esteemed company.
Whilst the The Weight Of Death is intense, fiery and vehement in its approach, there are some shining moments throughout the album which show how to create a quality sludge metal record. Bringing in various elements from punk, doom and groove metal, WITCHPIT certainly are riff machines. Album opener OTTR is a fast-paced, punky song that sets the tone for the rest of The Weight Of Death. It’s followed by the sludgy, doomy epic The Blackened Fee. This nearly eight-minute song is all consuming and ominously shadowy, and as it closes in around you you can’t help but feel claustrophobic. Lyrically it sounds like an impassioned cult leader scolding his flock for disobeying him.
Title track The Weight Of Death is a high octane, highway speed limit breaking (it is thoroughly recommended that you drive safely) belter, scorching the American desert with black tire marks and acrid smoke. Autonomous Deprivation tackles the lack of control a victim experiences whilst being surrounded by belligerent religious zealots. Fire & Ice is an EYEHATEGOD barbed wire experience; with droning chords and double time punk drums, it takes no time to split your skull in two with devastating efficiency as the album climaxes in all its fury. After all that, album closer Mr. Miserum feels like a bit of a damp squib, lacking any real oomph to finish the album with an equally explosive outro compared to OTTR.
Sludge has definitely undergone a new evolution, as the next generation of bands start to cut their teeth in the murky, fuzzy and marshy underbelly of the genre. With The Weight Of Death, you can see WITCHPIT leading the charge in the immediate future, flaming torches and all, out of the depths of the genre’s boggy waters.
Rating: 7/10
The Weight Of Death is set for release on March 25th via Heavy Psych Sounds.
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