If you’re not familiar with Sweden’s own Witchcraft, you’d not need to be a modern day Sherlock Holmes to guess from their name there might well be a hint of Doom about their sound. Looking at my own music collection, of the dozen plus bands with “Witch” as part of their title, the preponderance do indeed play music of that genre. However, with this, their fifth full length album and second on Nuclear blast after 2012’s stunning ‘Legend’, Witchcraft once again show they are so much more than one dimensional worshippers of all things Iommi.
Opener ‘Malstroem’ commences with a brooding acoustic guitar and accompanying flute, hinting at a journey into the world of soothing folk rock, but this pastoral idyll is quickly crushed beneath a tidal wall of riffs guaranteed to wash away any smell of patchouli from the air. In many ways this near nine minute crusher is the structurally simplest track on the album, mid paced riffs and clean vocals very much in the Candlemass vein. ‘Theory of Consequence’ follows, cramming enough riffs into its mere two and a half minutes to keep the true metal warrior happily head-banging, whilst the return of the flute in ‘The Outcast’ brings to mind Jethro Tull in their rockier ‘Crest of a Knave’ period, a sound reinforced by political lyrics and the gentle middle guitar break.
When the title track comes around, in its entire fourteen minute glory, the band climb to a new level of psychedelic opulence, leaving behind any possibility of being pigeon holed as a simple stoner/doom act, bringing together a host of classic influences. Vocalist Magnus Pelander slips into a lizard king skin to give tribute to Mr Mojo Risin, lyrically name checking “The Doors of Perception”, the book from which the band took their names, as well as “The Fields of the Nephilim” as his vocals take a even more Gothic turn, his poetic words being set against a musical landscape that melds melancholic guitars, both electric and acoustic with a mournful flute and monastic chants. ‘Nucleus’ is a truly epic track, and one that could form the dramatic heart of any live performance around which an entire set could be built, complete with epic guitar solos and operatic female keening, all swirling together into a heady blend before playing out with what I would swear is an accordion.
“An Exorcism of Doubt” follows with a bombastic opening swirl combining guitars and Hammond organ that would have any Pink Floyd fan crossing their wrists and demanding a “space cadet glow”, before the song reins back into a mournful blues rock number interspersed with stabs of Prog rock posturing. All this, combined with the simpler hard rock punch of numbers such as ‘The Obsessed’ and ‘To Transcend Bitterness’ act as signposts leading the listener to the massive closer, the fifteen minute plus ‘Breakdown’, a number in which all the disparate sounds the band have hinted at, and the host of influences they have displayed, meet in one massive psychedelic mix. Keyboards, strings and guitars mix with readings of dark poetry, pounding funereal rhythms and pained raw vocals that could well be the soundtrack of the vocalist’s own personal breakdown. Such a huge mix of sounds and styles could well be in danger of wandering into the realms of the pretentious performance poet, but each time that hazard raises its head, Witchcraft pull it back with some new musical element, grabbing the attention of the listener and keeping it firmly focused on the track.
Due to the time constraints of review and release, I’ve only managed to listen to ‘Nucleus’ three times before hitting the keyboard and committing my views to the aether, so I’ve no doubt with repeated listenings I will discover more nuances and subtleties within the album. This may well be Witchcraft’s magnum opus, or maybe just a statement of intent not to be categorised. Either way, it’s bloody good.
(8.5/10 Spenny)
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