Album Review: Witchcraft - Idag
Reviewed by Patrick O'Reilly
Upon pressing play on the new Witchcraft LP, I was immediately smothered by a warm glow, a fuzz that was all encompassing. This is entirely down to the tone of the guitars that has become a trademark of this band.
Witchcraft play doom metal/occult/prog/folk rock like the 70s never ended. Famed for their use of authentic analogue recording techniques and machinery they are obsessed with tone and atmosphere. You can soon see why though when they achieve a tone like this.
Not only do the guitars delight but Magnus Pelander’s vocals remain as sumptuous as ever, rich and powerful, particularly when delivering them in his mother tongue as he does on many tracks on this album.
The songs on ‘Idag’ range from slow and heavy through to acoustic interludes by way of folksy progressive rock, a true smorgasbord of retro delicacies. No fan of doom metal will be left unsatisfied after such a tempting feast.
What once seemed tired and cliched a genre, 70s throwback doom has truly been mastered by this band, through the mature and expert use of delightful melodies, expert musicianship and reverent attention to detail Witchcraft have concocted a truly beautiful album, once again proving themselves to be more than a gimmick but a true successor to the bands who developed this style of music so many years ago.
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