Review: Witchpit ‘Forever Spoken’
I remember when I first listened to South Carolina’s mighty sludge masters Witchpit as it was a time when I had recently split from my now ex-wife as they had released The Weight Of Death. It seemed to match my mood and resonated with me quite a bit at that time, so much so, that it appeared in my top ten albums of 2022 and I was genuinely excited to hear their latest release Forever Spoken.
With the heightened sense of anticipation also comes that sense of dread. What if it isn’t as good as their last album, much like Metallica since Master Of Puppets – haha, however, straight from the off, the quartet do not let me or anybody else down, as this is damn fine. Leading with the title track, you get that heavy sludge riff from Thomas White on guitar and the vocal anger of Denny Stone as they explore many different areas about humanity and life in general.
Through Eyes Of Apathy continues a similar theme but has a bit more of a doom feel to the music, which is something that I love, yet it sounds more intense with Stone spitting out the lyrics like snake’s venom. There’s nothing overly complex about what they do, but what they have done is gone away after touring with the likes of Weedeater and coming back stronger and better.
Stone spitting out the lyrics like snake’s venom…
Mouth Piece Of Hate has such a catchy riff throughout that I couldn’t help but headbang constantly, it’s an absolute belter of a track that will get people genuinely excited. Covering issues such as mysticism, rebellion and the supernatural, they delve further into the ills of modern society with Panacea and demonstrate again how intense they can be, with the bass sound from Jessy Cane protruding higher in the mix, something which should be heard more often in my opinion. It’s a longer song at almost six and a half minutes, but it flies by and showcases more of White’s guitar playing.
Then we get the slightly different New Age Fallacy as in the main, it feels dirty and grimy, a proper bourbon drinking song, what’s more, it has a strange echoey vocal section midway through which makes for a contrast and doesn’t detract for the music one bit. The seven songs are definitely more intense and complex than previous offerings, and the excellent Becoming I showcase this perhaps best of all. With the raucous drumming of Jeremy Grobsmith adding so much more to the sound, you can sense the fierce attitude of Stone bursting out with each word.
The album is wrapped up with the barn storming Silver Turns To Rust and it’s a slow build-up with that sludge, doom slant to it, that leaves you wanting more. The main riff is nice and heavy with a few intricate parts that make the song enjoyable to listen to and one that you will want to blast out on the car stereo to annoy passers-by. Overall, this is putting Witchpit back in the game and they are coming to hunt you down with their own brand of heaviness.
Label: Heavy Psych Sounds
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Matthew Williams
