Saturday 9 June 2018

Witchskull - Coven's Will (Album Review)



Release date: June 01st 2018. Label: Rise Above Records Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Coven’s Will – Tracklisting

1. Raven
2. Son of the Snake
3. Priestess
4. Breathing Blue Light
5. Demon Cage
6. Spyres
7. Lord of the Void
8. The Empty Well

Members

Marcus De Pasquale vox/guitar
Tony McMahon Bass
Joel Green Drums

Review

Greetings All,

Australia’s Witchskull, from Canberra to be exact have brought forth their second offering of bluesy doom rock, and lo what a mighty offering it is. Coven’s Will is eight mesmerizing tracks of energetic blues heavy doom rock with a definite NWOBHM feel. These are eight multi faceted songs showing the power trio’s skill as musicians and songwriters.

The album explodes out of the gates with the intense, unrelenting crunch of the Raven. The opener is a concise and powerful glimpse of what is to come. Son of the Snake slithers in with its metal vibe and a wink and a nod (intentional, maybe not?) to the old Melvins Ozma track Love Thing with it’s melodic guitar riff. 

Priestess brings in the slower, bluesy tempo before kicking your teeth down your throat. Massive riffs and driving drums propel the rocking Breathing Blue Light and the band keeps uptempo feel going through the intense Demon Cage. This track blisters with an early 80’s NWOBHM feel and just a pinch of Dio in the vocals. 

The moody Spyres brings the heavy bass and intense driving drums and notable cymbal crashes on the chorus that take the heavy vibe of the track down a dark road, The intensity stays high with Lord of the Void, possibly the most Sabbath inspired track on the record with it’s intense riffage pushing into a killer breakdown. 

The awe inspiring The Empty Well closes the album in grand fashion. The track opens with ominous, doom heavy riffs that give way to some almost jazz like moments before careening into a stoner rock interlude and then effortlessly finding its way back to dark, doom filled closing.

On their sophomore set, Witchskull have presented a record with Coven’s Will that is loaded with killer vocals, massive riffs and an infectious groove. Coven’s Will is immensely listenable and a massive triumph. Hats off to Witchskull and Rise Above for another towering triumph!

Todd S - Instagram @alltheghoststhathauntyou

Words by Todd Stealey

Coven's Will is available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl now via Rise Above Records.

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