It's just been a little over two months since Space Witch released their last single Wychkrafft on Bandcamp and already their debut album Space Witch has now been released. The album contains two tracks, both a little over 30 minutes long, which is, don´t get me wrong, still too short for the amazing trip you have when listening this instrumental sludgy diamond of doom. I have listened to this album way over 25 times, and kept being amazed every time I listened.
The first track ‘Worship the Void’ starts with a slow, heavy riff that evolves to an even heavier version of itself. The second part of the track starts around the 6 minutes mark and awakens a riff in 7/8 that is both psychedelic and evil as fuck. The drums linger on in the best possible way, while getting a little heavier with every beat. Around 8 and a half minutes the lower frequencies drop down a little and solo-like riffs are played by both guitars. It fits the vibe perfectly.
After getting a little heavier again my favorite part of the track begins. At the 10:52 mark my mind gets blown. This riff, that will last pretty long, gets heavier and heavier and deeper and deeper. I get the inevitable feeling of getting blasted into outer space and see the world getting demolished. The riff keeps getting heavier and deeper and slower. At the 14:20 mark it´s utter Apocalypse. This is the riff that made me love Space Witch even more. The tempo, the pitch, the notes, the everything. This is the definition of sludge and doom to me. Mind that this is still in 7/8 and boy am I a sucker for signatures other than 4/4 and 8/8.
After this amazing part a new riff slowly kicks in and keeps going on till it hits a slower tempo. I'm not sure what the exact BPM is of the next part, but it sure as hell is slow. It gets calmer and calmer and with the right effects they create an almost ambient-like vibe. The same riff kicks in very heavy, right after the most calm part of the track. The riff will continue till the end of the track, with just the last few bars in single notes. The dynamics in this track are perfect, I could not think of a better way than this.
The second track ‘Alchemy Paradox’ starts heavy right away and provides some kind of wake-up call. This is the Apocalypse in music form. Very similar riffs keep getting blasted right at you. The riff blends perfectly into the next, and gets a little calmer after that. The effects over both tracks are perfectly placed, and fit the vibe extremely well, especially in this part of the track. A new riff starts to build up slowly and you can hear the doom building up in the way they hit the strings. The riff keeps going on for a few minutes but keep evolving until it 'finally' explodes after a sudden increase in fuzz. We now get introduced to an even calmer part than before.
After getting hypnotised by the amazing effects the same riff goes on, with a shitload of fuzz on top. Some higher single notes with just the right amount of reverb are heard in this part, it freshens the pool of fuzz up a bit. Space Witch keep on blasting riffs at you in a way you really don´t want them to stop abusing your ear drums. A sudden drop in tempo changes the vibe to an even more evil setting. Just after 27 minutes in the second track the tempo changes up again and gets to an almost stoner-like sound. It's amazing how Space Witch combine all these elements in a perfect blend, in the long tracks that they have. The track ends in feedback, and that's exactly the way it should be.
This is the album I have been waiting for so long. It's the perfect blend between doom and sludge. I am truly thankful that there are no vocals in these tracks, as them being instrumental they are giving you your own side of the story. I can not wait for Space Witch to gig in my country and if they don't get here fast I'll make sure to travel to where they are. This is my favorite album of 2014 so far and it probably will be till the very end.
