Witchsorrow – Witchsorrow (2010)

Keeping the Doom Metal flame alive, today we have Witchsorrow and their self-titled debut album. Invoking the spirits of great bands like St. Vitus, Candlemass, Penance, etc, Witchsorrow shows their cards with this very solid debut release. With “Witchsorrow”, you will get a 45 minute dose of crushing Doom Metal with some psychedelic influences like in the old-school days.

As you can expect, the guitar work is monumental and it creates a very thick atmosphere. Typical for (good) Doom Metal releases, the band goes balls deep into crushing riffs and songs over 9 minutes long. By doing everything by the book, and adding some psychedelic guitar sections, you can’t really argue about the efficiency of “Witchsorrow”.

Besides the crushing guitar work, we have very well executed drums, a pounding bass guitar line, and the very typical mournful vocals. If you are expecting any weird experimentation or just something ‘out of the ordinary’, look somewhere else since Witchsorrow caters to the die-hard fans of the genre and keeps things clean and simple.

All songs in this release are pretty solid, but “The Agony” and “The Trial of Elizabeth Clarke” feature the most memorable moments (guitar wise). Things move a bit slower with “Thou art Curse”, keeping things a bit interesting and giving this album a very good flow, we particularly love the (almost) weeping guitars around the seven minute mark of this song.

In general, Witchsorrow is a band that will make its mark when it comes to preserving the Doom Metal legacy. There is not a lot that will appeal to people that like the more dynamic and ‘experimental’ areas of Doom Metal, but will keep them at peace with its crushing songs. Highly recommended for fans of old-school Doom Metal music.

Release: October 26th, 2010

Country: UK