Sunday 9 August 2015

Witchsorrow - No Light Only Fire (Album Review)


Release date: August 08th 2015. Label: Candlelight Records. Formats: DD / CD / Vinyl

No Light Only Fire: Tracklisting

1.There Is No Light, There Is Only Fire - 04:35
2.The Martyr - 09:01
3.Made of the Void - 06:37
4.Negative Utopia - 10:06
5.To the Gallows - 06:37
6.Disaster Reality - 11:24
7.Four Candles - 01:00
8.De Mysteriis Doom Sabbathas - 14:23

Band Members:

Necroskull - Guitar/Vocals
Emily Witch - Bass
Wilbrahammer - Drums

Review:

"You have one new message in your Inbox."

Goes to check inbox. Discovers a download link to Dropbox but what could it be?

Well let me tell you. It's riff after riff after riff after fucking riff of pure 80's heavy metal tinged doom. Or to give the album it's more commonly accepted name "No Light Only Fire" the newest offering from Hampshire's own Witchsorrow. It's good. Like seriously good.

Once again recording with Producer/Wizard Chris Fielding this time now at Jon Davis' magnificent Skyhammer Studio (Trust me, It's like Doom Disneyland.) Releasing their first offering for Candlelight Records, we find Witchsorrow have released their finest and most versatile record yet.

Track one "There Is No Light Only Fire" doesn't waste anytime in establishing itself. Galloping guitars and bass lines and as always the stellar drums of The Wilbrahammer (or David to his mum) and some impressive vocals sees the band in fine and quite frankly fast form. The whole thing comes slamming to a halt in a little under five minutes.

"The Martyr" takes us back to more familiar territory in not only track length but also pace. This. Is. Doom. A very deliberate and very fucking heavy riff tramples across the song until the swing of the drums kick in and some seriously catchy vocals arrive which will burrow their way into your mind for days on end. A blistering guitar solo a cry of "Oh Yeah!" and the pace quickens. All of a sudden Witchsorrow are off and in my mind I picture myself galloping on horseback, riding though a village slaying the simple peasants in my way.....

Both "Made Of The Void" and the ten minute beast "Negative Utopia" incorporate many of the elements displayed so far. Tempo changes, from cruel bowel troubling riffs, to NWOBHM style gallops and everything in between.

One of my favourite things on this record though are the vocals and lyrics, from the clean but powerful delivery, the stories they tell and the hooks. Yeah the hooks. On a Doom record. Honestly, there's more hooks than a fucking hat stand.

Which leads us nicely onto the centrepiece of the record "To The Gallows." This song is all about the vocals. With it's simple but addictive chorus "To The Gallows/To The Death" it's genuinely full of sing along moments and will get stuck in your head whether you like it or not so you might as well just give in to it.

"Disaster Reality" is another track that runs into double figures and is chock full of riffs, riffs and more riffs. It's probably the most evenly paced track on the record and leads perfectly into "Four Candles" a solemn minute long piece played on a lone acoustic guitar.

The album (or certainly the advance copy) closes with "De Mysteriis Doom Sabbathas" which I think they originally released on a very limited run on cassette for their Roadburn appearance in 2013, giving people a chance to pick up something a little bit special.

"No Light Only Fire" is an excellent record from one of the UK's finest bands and now with a new home on Candlelight will hopefully help them continue to reach new audiences.

Get yourself to the official album launch by clicking here:

Words by Simon Ross Williams

Thanks to Darren at Candlelight Records for the promo. No Light Only Fire is available to buy on DD / CD / Vinyl.

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp