After such a brilliant debut as "On Crom's
Mountain", the challenge was anything except easy to face with the release
of this "Legions of the Deep", but - holy shit- Simon and his faithful buddies did it ...! Just a little reminder in case you don't know anything
yet about this mysterious gem from the UK, ARKHAM WITCH consists in one of the
most talented singer of the last 25 years I've named Simon (also responsible
for delightful occult works in The Lamp of Thoth), Aldo "Dodo" Doom
(guit), John Demaine (bass) and Emily (drums, also partner of Simon in TLOT)
and is a fine purveyor of obscure and Doom (more slightly) infused Traditional
Heavy Metal.
Don't misunderstand me, it's not that the guys
changed drastically their approach, nor became too serious and sober-minded;
songs like "Kult of Kutulu", "Infernal Machine", "On a
Horse Called Vengeance" are for example pure manifests of sweaty and saucy METAL dedicated to the glory of the
headbanging 80’s but they’re thicker and punchier than “just” fun and stirring.
To cite influences could seem easy at times but
what you hear in a second can be different very quickly, that doesn’t mean they
are unpredictable though, this is just rich in simplicity ! In no particular order one can find some Wtichfinder
General, Candlemass, Judas Priest, Manilla Road, Angel Witch, Cirith Ungol, Pagan
Altar... I even heard some stuff that reminded me a bit Skyclad and early
Running Wild saucy expression, some early german thrash in the (rare) most
frantic moments but ARKHAM WITCH has succeeded to mix all those influences
ultimately with a bluffing enhancement in harmonies, a bit like the Swedish
OBRERO awesomely did on their “Mortui Vivos Doscent” last year but A.W. tends
more on NWOBHM where Martin and his Swedish buddies are before all a
Stoner/Doom band..
Harmonies, here’s something very important and
delightful in infectious songs like “David Lund”, “The Cloven Sea”, “At the
Mountains of Madness” or “Legions of the Deep” (which includes special
appearance of the maltese doom legend Leo Stivala), where Simon’s vocals are
the most valued with his famous brigand tone, naughty and so catchy at the same
time; they fit perfectly with the music, magnifying gloriously the weirdness of
such songs.
Riffs on those songs and particularly on the
outstanding opener “David Lund” are really hooky, soulful and melodic;
sometimes the blazing tone reminds of Pagan Altar, almost mystical and epic.
This is the best side of A.W. personnality without any doubt, even if I also
enjoy the rawer and blasting (sometimes thrashy) moments
This is not a promotional abusive formula, but
believe me just this 1st song deserves the purchase of the album !
Of course I recognize willingly that I may have missed a few ones since the
golden days of the 80’s, but this “David Lund” is the BEST HM song I’ve heard
for ages… no less than the equivalent of a “Run to the Hills”, “The Reaper” or
“The Crystal Ball” !!! The kind of song that is a real milestone in the Heavy
Metal history and bands from the years 2000 that can lay claim to this can
certainly be counted on the fingers of a kamikaze’s hand after a bloody attack !
Before concluding, I can not forget to mention
the quality of the artwork perfectly fitting with the Lovecraftian horror-concept around which the band revolves.
Contagious, classic and twisted, this new album
is an absolute must-have for old school METAL fans, it’ll be officially
released by Metal on Metal rds tomorrow, so there’s no excuse to miss this
masterpiece !!!
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