Penance - Proving Ground

Here's another offering from the altar of doom metal. Penance are a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania doom metal outfit who produce some great tunes. While the vocals are mixed a little higher in the recording than they probably should be, they don't overpower the riffs and backing tracks. A good thing since these guys have some pretty kick-ass riffs.

Definite influence from some of the greats like Saint Vitus and various stoner rock sounds. Down-low and dirty sounds, just the way I like them.

Any fans of stoner rock and traditional doom metal will enjoy this recording.

Penance - Proving Ground

1.	Proving Ground
2.	Cloudless
3.	Transcending
4.	Dead Already
5.	Bitter
6.	Pain
7.	Never Lost
8.	Cast In Grey
9.	Bleed You
10.	Circle #9
11.	Slipping...

Myspace

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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

Myspace

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