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Bell Witch: Longing
03/12/12 || gk
Bell Witch’s 2011 demo caused quite a stir among doom metal fans with its droning drum and bass atmosphere and all round sludgy goodness. Now, the duo of Dylan Desmond and Adrian Guerra are back with their full length debut and this is one captivating performance.
What we have here is basically just a bass guitar and drums with both musicians taking turns singing. Album opener “Bails (of flesh)” is a 20 minute behemoth that impressively charts everything this band is capable of. The song starts with a low end rumble and a bass that sounds like a guitar before moving through beautiful melodies, crushing sludge parts with powerful growls, a quieter middle section with strong clean vocals and an ending that returns to that massive sludge riff and growls. “Rows (of endless waves)” starts in classic funeral doom style with slow and lumbering riffs and a blackened shriek for vocals but the last 3 odd minutes feature a clean vocal line that is equal parts melancholic and catchy with a strong folk music feel that completely changes the character of the song. This is some really powerful stuff.
Elsewhere, horror movie fans will probably recognize the sample of Prince Prospero and Death from The Masque of the Red Death that is included in “Beneath the mask” and gives the otherwise quiet song some real depth and sounds quite unlike its original demo form. “I wait” also first appeared on the demo and here it seems to be a bit more fleshed out and is the final proper song on the album. The transition from the quiet notes of “Beneath the mask” to the heavy as fuck opening notes of “I wait” is exhilarating but the song really comes alive with its superb ending and Desmond’s melodic bass playing and a pretty cool vocal melody.
Dylan Desmond has already had one winner this year with Samothrace’s Reverence to stone and with “Longing” he and Adrian Guerra have crafted another superb album of the slow and heavy. “Longing” is minimalist doom metal with tons of atmosphere, crushing heaviness and even some beautifully tender melodies. The interplay between the soft and heavy parts is remarkably well executed and each song here actually feels fully formed and fleshed out and not just a collection of cool sounding parts. In terms of similar sounding bands, there’s something about the melodies on “Longing” that reminds me of Pallbearer but otherwise these 2 guys stay away from all the usual drum and bass duo clichés.
I’m honestly getting a bit tired of saying this but doom in 2012 is the gift that keeps on giving and you can add Bell Witch’s Longing to the list.
- Information
- Released: 2012
- Label: Profound Lore
- Website: www.bellwitch.com
- Band
- Dylan Desmond: vocals, bass
- Adrian Guerra: vocals, drums
- Tracklist
- 01. Bails (of flesh)
- 02. Rows (of endless waves)
- 03. Longing (the river of ash)
- 04. Beneath the Mask
- 05. I Wait
- 06. Outro
