By: Chris Ball
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Released on September 23, 2016 via Secret Law Records
Fans of Liverpool’s sludge stalwarts Iron Witch, and probably the band themselves, would tell you their debut A Harrowed Dawn (out now on Secret Law Records) is well overdue. Five years since their past release and never having put out a full-length album, plus with some major line-up changes, this is both a return and rebirth combined.
So let’s see what this Witch has been brewing – ‘Beauty and Rot’ starts with an intro of warped bass notes and is joined by slow crashing riff that lands with the impact of a plane falling from the sky. Vocals, by new vocalist Dave Mould (ex-of Siege Mentality) kick in and the weird bass is replaced by a standard sludgy crawl briefly before the pace and a more screamed vocal changes the atmosphere, and then back to a doom like pace, moving seamlessly into ‘Salvation Through Nothing’. There’s lots of variety without ever really sounding epic or progressive, probably because the production is a bit compressed. I would prefer the vocals a bit more central in the mix and more audibly ragged. Dave Mould mixes it up well, but it lacks a bit of in your face attack. I’m mildly surprised at the disappointing mix as the album was recorded with Conan’s Chris Fielding at Skyhammer Studios, who should really know what they are doing.
‘Machinery of Violence’ is slower still: long rumbling guitar chords are held, with vaguely psychedelic lead work, displaying classic early metal influences and then the tune picks up its filthy carcass and gallops across the sonic plain, like a armour plated sabre tooth tiger, and the drums hit viciously hard as we crash into a death metal style end. Despite the variation the tracks want for an individual identity and there are very few particularly memorable hooks . ‘Under the Pyre’ is less complicated and as a result probably the standout earworm-wise. ‘Belly Full of Rats’ opens with a great churning Slayer-esque riff, but the song quickly drops to a repeatedly slowing, crushing plod, ever slower, ever heavier and sure to please sludge fans.
The closing ‘Solitude and Decay’ mirrors weird bass intro of the opener ‘Beauty and Rot’ and may well be a companion piece, but due to the lack of immediate hooks I struggle to make a solid connection. In the moment it rocks as hard as you could possibly want but leaves little impression when it’s over.
Iron Witch are not short on displaying attack or skill here, but there is a lack of real flair to elevate this into ‘must hear’ territory. I understand the band are touring at the moment, and they will be worth catching as they are sure to be a different cauldron of sludge in a live setting!
