Date Released: October 28th 2022. Record Label: Majestic Mountain Records. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl
In All Her Forms: Tracklisting
L'image
Successive Slidings Of Pleasure
Blood Of The Witch
Pussycat In A Woman's Skin
Space Age Sorceress
Hunting Dracul
Shadows In The Mirror
Magi Mama
Smoke And Sorcery
Queen Of Wands
Tide Of Jupiter
Hymn For The Supervixen
Review
Scottish Occult/Doom/Stoner Rockers Devil's Witches make a long awaited and welcome return to the Stoner Rock arena with their epic new album In All Her Forms. Their first full length album in over five years sees the band teaming up with Majestic Mountain Records. This album sees Devil's Witches play a more trippy and psychedelic blend of Occult based Doom/Stoner Rock. Expect the band to pay homage to bands such as Black Sabbath and Uncle Acid but with a flashier style of Psychedelic Rock/Metal.
Opening song L'image is an instrumental offering showing the new style of music the band play mostly on the album. The song is gloomy when it moves between the Post-Rock and Psych Doom levels that are contained with the album. The song has a gloomy 1960's and 1970's feel with the soundclips that appear towards the end of the song. However, it's the Psychedelic and Trippy spaced out sounds that impress the most.
Second song Successive Slidings Of Pleasure is a darker affair with the band playing a more distorted style of gloomy Doom Metal with a harsh sludgy undergroove. The grooves are AMPLIFIER WORSHIP variety but with a slight Progressive Sludge/Stoner Metal sound. Echoes of FUZZY REVERB gives Devil's Witches a more grown-up and threatening sound compared to their previous releases. The vocals ooze 70's sinister charm with them being firmly classic DOOM based and the music owing a huge debt of influence to bands such as Saint Vitus, Electric Wizard and SLEEP whilst still being mainly an Occult based album..
Third song Blood Of The Witch opens up with a solitary Blues based Acoustic guitar. Instantly melodic before Devil's Witches open the environment to a more experimental 1960's trippy Power-pop sound. The lyrics and vocals do show a hidden and gloomier meaning to the track. The song is quite abstract and very different to the opening tracks with Devil's Witches moving into a Folk Rock environment. It's a very good track if slightly different to the opening two tracks.
Fourth song Pussycat In A Women's Skin is another short-paced Psychedelic Doom offering with the band focusing more upon atmospherics, melodies and rich Blues Rock textures. Another different style of music from the band but it works within the whole concept and context of the album.
Fifth song Space Age Sorceress returns to the Heavy Doomed And Spaced Out Pastures of the opening two tracks. Imagine Uncle Acid going full on Demented Space Rock. This is the type of music that you would expect from Monster Magnet but Devil's Witches excel bringing their own demented style of Distorted and Fuzzed Up STONER ROCK/METAL. This is perhaps the standout track for me on the album. As it features a thrilling and commanding performance from the band especially with the sublime vocals and killer grooves.
I can't review every of the twelve tracks on the album though I will advise other great tracks to check out such as: Hunting Dracul, Shadows In The Mirror, Magic Mama, Queen Of Wands and Hymn For The Supervixen.
You'll be surprised even further on the tracks I mentioned there. As Devil's Witches play some wicked sounds that venture across the Sludge, Doom and Stoner Metal underground scene. In All Her Forms is essentially a classic sounding Occult Doom/Stoner Metal album but the band brings a modern flavour to the album especially when the heavier Sludgier parts appear. The album is superbly clever and wonderfully deceptive when the band add their fantastic Psychedelic and Trippy vibes to the album.
In All Her Forms is backed up by wonderfully accurate production values that allows Devil's Witches to play music that would sound HIP and TRULY ORIGINAL in any era of the last Fifty Years of Doom Metal and Stoner Rock. This allows In All Her Forms to be one of the standout and breathtaking albums of the year.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Richard at Sheltered Life PR for the promo.
In All Her Forms is available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Majestic Mountain Records from October 28th 2022.
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