Witch - Self-Titled

"Witch was formed in 2005 by Dinosaur Jr. guitarist J. Mascis and long time friend Dave Sweetapple. However, Mascis does not play guitar for the band; he plays his first instrument, the drums . To complete the band's lineup, Mascis and Sweetapple recruited the guitarist and vocalist, Kyle Thomas, from avant-folk group Feathers . Their eponymous debut album was released on March 7, 2006. They also contributed an alternate version of the song "Rip Van Winkle" to the Invaders compilation, which was released by Kemado Records in 2006. Their latest album Paralyzed was released on March 18th, 2008."

Now that that's out of the way, this album is an amazing piece of doom. And I listen to a LOT of doom. When I heard "Seer" by way of a recommendation, I was hooked. I didn't expect anything less from a project associated with Dinosaur Jr. members.

This is some definite stoner-feeling, traditional doom metal and fans of trad doom will appreciate it. There's a touch of psychedelic in there as well. Witch also released a new album recently (Paralyzed), but I believe this one is a little better. Don't get me wrong, definitely check out the new album, but the self-titled is an essential album from the contemporary doom scene.

Kyle Thomas - vocals,guitar
Antoine Guerlain - guitar
Dave Sweetapple - bass
J Mascis - drums

Witch - Self-Titled

1. "Seer" - 7:57
2. "Soul of Fire" - 3:37
3. "Black Saint" - 6:02
4. "Changing" - 6:42
5. "Rip Van Winkle" - 4:43
6. "Hand of Glory" - 5:28
7. "Isadora" - 6:00

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