Live Review: Bell Witch - Oslo, London
15th August 2023
Support: Fuoco Fatuo
Words & Photos: Jacob Schwar
This was to be the first UK date on Bell Witch’s European tour consisting of 18 dates across mainland Europe and the United Kingdom including appearances at a number of festivals such as Brutal Assault Festival in the Czech Republic and Arctangent Festival here in the UK, support for this tour came from extreme metal band Fuoco Fatuo.
So commencing a night of misery-laden doom metal were Italian death-doom outfit Fuoco Fatuo meaning ‘fatuous fire’ in their native tongue, the stage was adorned with the skulls of goats, the band members themselves were clad in leather with corpse-like paint upon their skin and a blood red light backdrop made for an intimidatingly hellish scene. I noticed there was a considerable gap from the audience to the stage, the band certainly had an imposing presence and their impending performance would be a truly befitting soundtrack of ones journey through the bowels of an endless, infernal abyss.
The song ‘Obsidian Bulwark (Creation of the Absurd)’ put this into perspective with its incredibly distorted yet grandiose guitars and deep, guttural vocals making for a truly brutal soundscape of demonic sound which is a staple of the genre respectively! Following this up with ‘Thresholds of Nonexistence Through Eerie Aeon’ providing a more creepy, atmospheric flair to their set though in no way less crushing as this 15 min epic has some fantastic gloom-ridden riffs halfway through reminding me of a really evil and corrupted take on old school My Dying Bride. Honestly, I thought Fuoco Fatuo were an interesting if not surprising choice for support, their black metal imagery accompanied by a terrifying death-doom sound was truly appealing and to see an audience who were a bit apprehensive was a sight to behold!
After such a bleak yet intense performance the gloom was to continue with tonight’s headliners, out on stage came bassist/singer Dylan Desmond followed by drummer/organist Jesse Shreibman, this is Bell Witch! For tonight’s performance the band would be performing the entirety of their latest release Future Shadows Part 1: The Clandestine Gate (2023) which in quintessential Bell Witch style consists of an hour and a half long epic, after realising this my mind was blown!
The performance commenced to the sound of an eerie mortuary pipe organ establishing the tone for the rest of the show, depressingly morbid to be exact. On the screen behind them flashed images of desolation, empty landscapes and cloaked figures which suited the vibe superbly and added a factor of interest as there’s not much movement or energy from the band though quite understandable when performing funeral doom. We soon hear Desmond’s finger work, calmly building up a feeling of trepidation before a mighty cymbal crash from Shreibman announces the songs true beginning with Desmond’s guitar now sounding ferociously evil and distorted, accompanied by his choir-like voice. The song would soon transforms into an ambient, atmospheric piece with a both Desmond and Shreibman chanting and rambling along with an eerie guitar tune and the occasional clash of the drums, the sound of literal silence played an important part this moment in the performance allowing for a quick moment of realisation before being trounced by the heavy droning of Bell Witch’s wall of sound.
Exactly halfway in the set we were exposed to Desmond’s guttural vocals, this section was some of best death-doom I’d heard live, intensely brutal yet full of emotion and romance signified by this wailing melody. It would continue on this crushing path, ensuring any sense of hope was ultimately suppressed, from looking at the audience, there were no smiles, some had their eyes closed as if they were in a trance and many simply looked lost in their thoughts. The performance would come to an end to the sound of an isolated guitar echoing throughout the venue, a lasting impression of the sorrowful nature of Bell Witch’s music and a fitting end to breath-taking performance.
All photo credits: Jacob Schwar / Darkness Before Dawn
