Under the Mountain

When listening to King Witch’s full-length debut album, I get a lot of flashbacks to Dio-era Black Sabbath, The Mob Rules especially. There isn’t an “Sign of the Southern Cross” epic or a “Turn Up the Night” anthem on Under the Mountain, but a similar vibe can be felt throughout. Jamie Gilchrist’s guitar tone is dark yet classy in signature Iommi fashion, Joe Turner’s bass has a steady presence without feeling a need to steal the spotlight, Lyle Brown’s drums are loose, and the melodic snarl that Dio only seemed to use on that one album has found a new home in vocalist Laura Donnelly.

However, this Scottish quartet sets itself apart from its inspiration by opting for a more cacophonic execution. The tempos are more extreme, opting for either drawn out slowness or muscular speeds, and the guitars threaten to overwhelm everything in a sea of ominous fuzz. Such an approach usually results in the vocals getting drowned out in the mix, but they end up finding their own place here, often aggressively delivering higher pitched wails where the guitars can’t reach.

It also helps that there are some strong songs on here. The title track puts in an active tempo and some catchy vocal/guitar trade-offs. From there, “Approaching the End” takes the album to its doomiest yet most focused point with a series of bottom heavy riffs below sweeping vocal lines and “Ancients” offers up a blues jam with an acoustic undercurrent that is sure to trigger associations with “Over and Over” while offering its own engaging vocal set.

While there may be some stronger witch-suffix metal (witch metal?) bands out there, King Witch’s debut album is a solid listen. It seems rare for a doom/heavy metal hybrid to go for such an aggressive, dark approach without sacrificing melody but Under the Mountain pulls it off splendidly. Anybody with a fondness for Dio Sabbath is advised to check this out. With more fine-tuned songwriting, they could very well end up becoming a staple of the scene.

Highlights:
“Under the Mountain”
“Approaching the End”
“Ancients”

Originally published at http://indymetalvault.com