Album Review: Void Witch - Horripilating Presence
Reviewed by Matthew Williams
Void Witch are one of those bands that I’ve had on my radar for a while now, since I first saw a few things about them on social media. Coming from the big ol’ state of Texas, I knew that they’d be fixing to deliver something big, bold and brash, intent on making a statement on the death metal scene.
Their critically acclaimed demo in 2021, introduced the band perfectly, and has finally led to their debut album being released. And I’ll tell you this for free, it’s a bit of a gem. It has a little bit of something for everyone, as they produce a crushing and suffocating blend of death doom metal with some grunge sensibilities and opening track “Grave Mistake” is like a ride at the rodeo, all safe and easy to begin as you saddle up, before the grim reality of what you are about to do settles in and all hell breaks loose.
The thing I enjoy most about their music, is that they try and keep it simple throughout and add little bits of craziness across each song. With Luke leading from the front on throat and fundament (vocals and bass to us mortals) he allows Jason and Nic to add the vibes and voids on guitars, and on “Second Demon” you can hear the riffs coming through loud and clear. They don’t overpower or dominate the song either, which is great in my opinion, but works oh so well within the composition.
With the traditional doom metal drumming from Adrian on “Malevolent Demiurge” this song feels more evil in its intent with sinister overtones from the off. It has a much slower pace, that allows the bass to be heard but has added energy in the sections where it feels appropriate. This is followed by another wickedly intense monster of a song called “Supernova of Brain and Bone”. It is 7 plus minutes of more spine-chilling music that gives a voice to the gruesome maunderings of the collectives corrupted and degenerate minds. It’s beautiful in every way possible.
With only 6 songs on this album, it feels far too short, but they are wonderfully crafted with themes of body horror, gruesome myth, murder ballads and other cautionary tales. “Thousand-Eyed Stalactite” allows us to hear more glimpses of the axe murdering type guitar riffs and gives that overall sense of being suffocated by an evil murderer.
It is wrapped up with the title track, “Horripilating Presence” which wouldn’t have been out of place on the soundtrack of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It feels macabre in its delivery and with their grisly, gruesome plot of your death finally revealed, the song is like the hammering of the final nails in your coffin. As debuts go, this is something pretty damn good.
