An angel amongst demons?
Cauldron of the wild --- Witch Mountain --- 2012 (Profound Lore)
Anyone who knows me or has read my journal knows that doom metal and I go together about as well as Hitler and pacifism, or bank managers and frugality, but I was pleasantly surprised by this album. There I was, perusing the new releases from my usual music vendor (No, not itunes! You think I'm made of money?) when I came across this album called "South of Salem" by a band called Witch Mountain. The only genre shown was "metal", so I hit the preview button and was disappointed to hear slow, grinding, doomy guitars and bass with drums that sounded like they belonged on a slave ship. Everything about this sound pointed towards sludge or doom metal, and I waited with sinking heart to hear the vocals, expecting growly, raspy or unintelligible singing. Imagine my surprise then when I heard a female voice, and not screaming or spitting fire, but just singing quite what I would call normally. Not even over-the-top operatic or dramatic, like some of the female singers in the bigger progressive metal bands.
Sadly, she only got a few seconds to sing before the one-minute preview faded out, but I had heard enough to decide I liked this, and hit the purchase button. That album was from last year, so I wondered if they had anything current, and it turned out that they did, and do, and this is it. Although they have been together since late 1997, they only recorded their first EP in 2000, and released their first album proper the following year. Witch Mountain have only had the three albums in that time: this one, the one I mentioned and their debut, called "Come the mountain". This appears to be due to the fact that, for reasons unknown to me, the band went on hiatus in 2002 and didn't return to performing until 2005, and even then it took them another six years to record their second album. Not ones to rush things, then?
Hailing from Portland, Oregon, Witch Mountain are a four-piece, with Ula Plotkin, that female singer I told you about, the only woman in the quartet, and in fact she's only been with them since 2009. Prior to that, vocals were handled by guitarist Rob Wrong (I don't know if that's his real name, but I hope he never marries!) In addition to this album, Witch Mountain have also released a two-track EP, perhaps wanting to make up for lost time, or perhaps to soften the blow when you realise this album has only six tracks, although in fairness two of them are pretty long.
"The ballad of Lanky Rae" starts us off and it's as you'd expect from a doom metal band: big heavy pounding guitar going about four miles an hour, punching drums at about the same speed, with Ula's voice rising from the miasma like summer mist, clear and powerful. Of course, the only real experience I have with this sort of music would be the greats like Black Sabbath, and therefore I find this quite similar, but Sabbath did their best work over thirty years ago and this is much more up to date. Nice backing vocals too, and the music, though skull-crushingly heavy, does not turn me off. Wrong proves he's one hell of a guitarist, with a blistering solo halfway through, but the music soon slips back into that sludgey, heavy, thick metal groove that plods along like an elephant caught in a swamp. It certainly is powerful though, and it doesn't depress me as I somehow expected a genre or sub-genre like doom metal to. It's not what you'd call uplifting, but still enjoyable. It's what I feel Nick Cave would sound like if he decided to do metal.
There's a big growling, grinding guitar opening to "Beekeeper", with Plotkin's voice a little further down in the mix, singing in almost a kind of medieval way, with elements of progressive metal vocals in there too. Nathan Carson makes sure he's heard behind the drumkit and drives the heavy rhythm, but for me he's nothing special. Then again, as I admit, I know next to nothing about this sub-genre, so he could be a leading light within it. What is clear is that for my money Rob Wrong and Ula Plotkin carry the music between them, and I'm pretty sure he's adding semi-gutteral backing vocals in this song --- he used to be the singer, after all, so would be the natural choice for a backing vocalist. The song's very intense, perhaps moreso than the opener, but as to what it's about, well you got me. Another short solo and Wrong makes his guitar sound amusingly like a swarm of bees at one point near the end. Nice touch. Plotkin proves she can really hit the high notes when necessary, but never descends (ascends?) into screaming.
Somehow contriving to be slower than its two predecessors, "Shelter" opens on a great bit of fretwork from Wrong, Neal Munson's bass crashing like thunder behind him, then carrying the basic melody as Ula sings, much clearer now and more to the front. Having nothing else to base my opinion on, I fall back on the Sabbath comparison and say this sounds like their title and signature track. It has a slow, doomy feel with guitar punching like a fist, in, out, in, out, and the drums, well, they're there, is all I can say really. The best and most effective parts of the song come when Ula's voice sings with just the bass backing, again like the beginning of "Black Sabbath", a bit of strumming from Wrong in the mix too, but when it breaks out into a full-on heavyfest it gets just a little bit overwhelming and confused. I'm not sure this song needs to be over seven minutes long though, as it sort of follows the same routine all the way through. Well, hold on, I take that back: there is a breakaway guitar part about five minutes in and the tempo increases noticeably, the slow, doomy, broody aspect somewhat changed to a more upbeat, faster melody. More male backing "death vocals" and the song finishes strongly on a powerful vocal from Ula.
Sharp, echoing guitar that may or may not have reverb on it opens "Veil of the forgotten", the tempo dropping back to the plodding, ponderous gait of most of the album, Wrong adding those sinister death vocals as a sort of evil whisper, Ula singing her heart out and halfway through again the song surprises me by speeding up on the back of Wrong's guitar and the demonic percussion of Carson. The last two tracks are the longest, with "Aurelia" the longest overall, clocking in at almost twelve minutes. Opening on a deceptively gentle guitar, almost acoustic, it's joined by some nice dark bass courtesy of Neal Munson, and it's the slowest --- dare I say laidback, or even utter the "b" word here? --- of all the songs so far, with some almost folky vocals from Ula and Rob Wrong, who for once actually sings rather than just growl gutterally. When he does that, he seems to be a half-decent singer, and this song really changes the game, at least so far.
It's a quarter of the way through now, and though of course it could suddenly explode into a heavy, doomy dirge ... er, as I think it just has, so forget that thought. Heavy pounding guitar cuts in and rearranges the song, though in fairness it slips then into a nice metal bit of noodling, and the basic melody remains intrinsically the same. Ula really outshines herself on this one, giving full vent to her powerful voice, though Rob seems to prefer to slip back into those death growls and mutters that have peppered the album thus far. I'd go so far as to say Ula Plotkin is wasted in this band, because she really is the one thing that makes them interesting and listenable: hook these guys up with any of the usual death growlers and I wouldn't give Witch Mountain a second listen, personally, but she makes their music much more accessible, at least for me.
Rob Wrong's guitar expertise must be remarked upon too, and he really is quite technically proficient. I wouldn't call him a great guitarist --- I'm sure there are many as talented or moreso in other metal bands I have yet to hear --- but he does the job well and considering there are no keyboards or pianos or anything else to help mould the music, and the rhythm section sounding to me quite basic, I think he holds it all together quite well, with occasional flashes of what he could be capable of were he to apply himself more. What do I know? I couldn't play guitar to save my life! But I know he has talent, but is perhaps wasting it slightly in this band.
I did postulate that "Aurelia" could be a ballad; it's not of course --- I'm not sure whether doom metal bands
do ballads --- but it's probably the closest you'll get to one on this album and it ends quite gently on softly strummed fadeout guitar, taking us into the closer, "Never know". This comes in at just over nine minutes long and opens on a thick, sludgy bassline that takes almost the first minute of the song before Ula's soft vocal comes in, and that sixties/hippie/folk vibe is back in her voice, again making me feel that she's in the wrong band here. I could hear her on some progressive rock album, or some space or psychedelic rock one, but metal seems a bad fit for her. This is a slowburner, and even by the third minute, a third of the way through its run, it hasn't really got going, just a few clashes of the hi-hats and some toms from Carson, low, muted guitar from Wrong and running through it all the persistent heartbeat of Munson's throbbing bass. That is, until the fifth minute when Wrong decides he's had enough of being in the background and turns his amp up to ten and lets loose.
In response to this explosion, Ula screams almost in ecstasy and the song hits a new level, guitar wailing and grinding as Wrong slips his self-imposed leash. Having been pent-up for so long he lets it all loose in an orgasmic outpouring that lasts well into the seventh minute, the song ending on Ula's anguished wail and his guitar riff.
TRACKLISTING
1. The ballad of Lanky Rae
2. Beekeeper
3. Shelter
4. Veil of the forgotten
5. Aurelia
6. Never know
So has this album been an epiphany for me, changed my mind about doom metal, made me a fan? Er, no. Mostly I don't really like the music here, though I'll admit I don't hate it in the same way I hate thrash/speed metal (well, most of it), as at least here I could make out what was being sung, the music, though slow and mostly depressing (duh!) was listenable and there were moments of light shooting through the dark. Without question, the star of the show is Ula Plotkin, and I also must rate the fretwork of Rob Wrong, but I couldn't see myself becoming a fan of this sort of music, not on the basis of this album. In retrospect, it was a bit of a slog to get through it and in the end I'm grateful there were only six tracks, even if they did total over forty-five minutes of music.
I must also give credit to the band for their sense of humour in titling the album (though interestingly there is no title track) and I would wish them the best in the future, though I can't see a terribly bright one for them on the basis of this offering. Then again, as I say, I am not well-versed in the sub-genre, so this may come to be regarded as a classic, who knows?
But I don't think I'll be taking any more trips up Witch Mountain any time soon.