Fly to the Witch Mountain

I wasn't around when Temis Osmond left Sabbat back in 2005, but I think I can safely say that most fans were a bit shocked, particularly after the band released the surprisingly good Karmagmassacre that showed them as not lacking any fuel to tirelessly continue to release killer albums after killer albums, the future only looked as bright as the past was to them. What is fortunate, is that Temis didn't left the metal scene at all. Only 3 years after his departure from the mighty Sabbat here he returns with a new band and an almost 30 minutes demo. No longer does he play guitar though, so you shouldn't hope to see Blind Witch as showcasing a continuation of Temis' particular riffing style and crazy leads; instead, he focus solely on the vocal aspect, but I'll return to that later. What is a surprise, is that the one who get to be the band's axeman is none other than Metalucifer's Elizaveat, also Sabbat's original guitarist who got replaced by Temis after the band held auditions. So, from black metal to heavy metal, where does Elizaveat brings us next? Doom metal. Elizaveat will probably stay under-appreciated as a guitarist because he was overshadowed by Temis in Sabbat. Not everyone seems to know he's in Metalucifer, or rather he was in Sabbat, because Gezol steals all the spotlight. But here you can see his versatility as he seems to go from a metal genre to another while still dishing out solid riffing and leads within the new genre he plays in.

Anyway, the best comparison I can find to describe Blind Witch's sound is to call them Japan's Reverend Bizarre. No, they don't actually sound like Revered Bizarre, but they sure do play a bit like them... At least it would hold accurate when speaking of In the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend. What I mean, is that they play some old school classic doom stuff, but venture more in slower territory with the occasional faster bit, with long-winded compositions and a heavy pounding drum presence - the bass doesn't have 'quite' the same importance though. The drummer Ryo Koyatsu is definitely worth of mention for his hard-hitting and driving performance, he always manage to keep a certain level of dynamism even through the slower, more plodding parts - which never really go as particularly plodding and boring as Reverend Bizarre could do thanks to Elizaveat's consistently good riffs. Speaking of Elizaveat's riffing, it's surprisingly good and he shows some relatively different playing throughout the demo. "Dragonade" is the more plodding doom-y track which sees its ending speeding things up with some cool leads to a satisfying closure. "Lament of the Witches" is another slow number, probably slower, although the mood is quite different, more one of mourning I could say... More minimalistic stuff, but well done and easy to get drawn into. It also speeds up about 3 quarters through with some more classic doom riffing, only to slow down again for good effect. The last song, "Fly to the Witch Mountain", starts with a what looks like a movie sample about witches, to let go to what is Elizaveat's most classic doom riffing yet, which he keeps throughout, definitely a livelier and “bouncier” song here. The ending of the track is definitely a highlight of the demo with a more "emotional" bridge sort of part, showcasing again great riffing from Elizaveat and great leads that will leave you on your ass when the demo finishes.

But all this talk without mentionning Temis Osmond at all, so what about him? The easiest way would be to say that he sounds like himself, but that's not quite true. Everybody remembers his vocals as those insane, high-pitched and very over the top ones which can occasionally be heard on almost every Sabbat record, and he still sounds high-pitched, but much, much less over the top, and you can feel... particular feelings which fits with the mood of the songs. "The Letter from Death" from his last album with Sabbat is his closest vocal performance to what he does with Blind Witch. So anyway like I said, his vocals follow the mood of the songs, and with a much bigger range within the songs too. There's bits where he sings closer to what can be heard on "The Letter from Death", other times where he's less high-pitched, more like he's "talking" or controlling his voice much more to be kind of ominous. In other words, he's a surprisingly good doom metal singer. Seriously, I always loved his vocals in Sabbat, but he didn't always sound good, or consistently as good as he could be, but this is a revelation for me. I prefer his performance here over pretty much any song he sang in Sabbat, he's easily recognizable, but still kinda different from what you're used to hear from him. He really gives personality to the band, a different feel than any other vocalist of the genre.

Fly to the Witch Mountain is a surprising little recording, it's hard to believe it's considered as a demo with its relatively massive doom production, not crystal clear or modern, but as appropriate of a production job as you could think of for this sort of stuff. It's also very good for a band's first recording, but we're talking about veteran musicians who played in the mighty Sabbat and Metalucifer. It's nothing groundbreaking, but quite solid doom, the quality you would expect from there guys. I'm definitely looking forward a full length from these guys, they have a lot of potential to make some kind of massive, awesome doom records. So, what's next from these guys, an old school death metal band? Anyway, doom on!