Witchsorrow God Curse Us
By: Chris Davison
Witchsorrow are a band that I have the
opportunity to see so many times, and have turned them down at every juncture. Which
is odd, given that they are a highly regarded up and coming outfit peddling in
traditional doom wares. They've been at festivals, and I've preferred to drink,
or they've been on as supporting acts and I've gotten something to eat instead.
Luckily, I've managed to get a hold of God
Curse Us for my delectation. And you know what? It ain't half bad.
In the doom stakes, this is a fairly
curious find. In terms of their overall tone and sound, I'd say that
Witchsorrow – a UK act, trivia fans – play it fairly safe. They're clearly very
influenced by the most traditional of bands, having a sound that owes a fair
amount to the big hitters of the genre, in particular the American acts
Pentagram and Saint Vitus. So far, so normal. Yet I also detect hints of fellow
countrymen Electric Wizard in terms of the song lengths and the slightly hypnotic
take on the riffing. These aren't mere five minute tracks – here we typically
weigh in at around the ten minute mark, with nice ringing guitar tones and
funereal bass lines clashing with simple yet effective drum structures.
Vocally, the voice sounds a lot like the clearer, less mental episodes of our
very own Lee Dorrian, which is no bad thing at all. Here and there, when the
drabness and the length of the songs became almost too much for my attention to
have taken, the band kicks in with a slightly quicker tempo or an interesting
guitar solo.
The title track, in particular, has a nice
take on the post-apocalyptic scenario, with the ringing “God Curse Us – Every
One” taking its own position as a minor doom anthem. This may not be the most
inventive of albums, by any stretch of the imagination, but then I would always
rather listen to something familiar that is well played than something
completely novel but sterile and boring. A fine album all the same, and one
that will entice me to make more effort to resist the hunger and thirst and see
them live!
2 comments:
Glad you posted about this one because it made me aware that a link of it to review. Never heard of them before and someone I skipped it at first. I think that I may have missed because the dark cover didn't stand out and I didn't realize it was doom. Pretty decent album.
I though that was a decent album, as well, but it pales in comparison to some of the other heavy hitters that have released records of late in the same style.
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