- -- Release information ----------------------------------------------- -- -
Artist : Mountain Witch
Album : Cold River
Genre : Rock
Year : 2013
Label : This Charming Man Records
Cat# : TCM-028
Source : Vinyl
Bitrate : VBRKbps
Size : 66,1 MB
Runtime : 38:19 min
URL : n/a
- -- Tracklist -------------------------------------------------------- -- -
01. Snake Wand 03:14
02. Shrubbery The Warlock 05:05
03. Ancient Light 05:50
04. Sleepers Chant 05:33
05. The Covey 03:28
06. Once I Am King 06:05
07. School Of Night 04:19
08. Cold River 04:45
- -- Release notes ---------------------------------------------------- -- -
Every other band out there has either the word "Mountain" or
"Witch" in their band name (there's at least one other band
that has both). Every other band uses vintage gear. Every
other band plays "Retro Rock". With so many excellent albums
out recently in this same style [Noctum's 'Final Sacrifice';
Doublestone's 'Wingmakers'; Horisont's 'Time Warriors';
Seremonia's 'Ihminen'], why did this German trio release
theirs now? Is there really room in this world for one more
Germanic "throwback" band and their music? On the surface,
it would seem this is an album crafted from the very ashes of
redundancy, destined to be lost in the shuffle and ultimately
forgotten. I find myself having to qualify this every single
time I talk about a band that plays this "Retro Rock" style,
but in the spirit of redundancy, I'll so it once more: no
two Retro Rock bands sound alike. It becomes obvious as time
unfolds with each and every new entry into the category that
such uniqueness is one of the defining characteristics of the
sub sub genre. Sure, there are other Retro Rock bands that
play a darker version of seventies hard rock sounds. But,
once more in the spirit of redundancy, there's something
different about Mountain Witch after all (not to be confused
with Portland, Oregon's Witch Mountain).
'Cold River' is Mountain Witch's second album, after 'Scythe
& Dead Horse' from 2009. The inaugural incarnation of the
band featured Rene Sitte on guitar and Rene Roggman on drums,
I haven't heard 'Scythe & Dead Horse' but the pair is said to
have played highly improvisational instrumental desert rock.
Whatever the band sounded like in 2009, they are a doom rock
beast in 2013. The band has since recruited Tobert Knopp to
play bass and Roggman has taken up vocal duties. It's
Roggman's sense of lyrical playfulness that ultimately wins
me over.
"Shrubbery the Warlock" tells the tale of a pissed off
warlock on the mountain top. The entire story is bizarre and
a little bit silly and that it's framed in an earnest
sounding tune steeped in dark overtones lends it the air of
absurdity. "Sleepers Chant" features a rolling "vocal round"
style performance that gives it the feeling of a nursery
rhyme. It's little touches like this that really make 'Cold
River' stand out and keep it from getting lost in the slew of
terrific albums. But first, the album must get by on the
music alone and Mountain Witch are up to the task.
The album kicks off with the short instrumental, "Snake
Wand". It's the only instrumental song on the album but
feels like just the first of many. Which isn't to put down
of Roggman's vocals in any way, in fact I find his
performance more captivating than most vocalists. His
delivery is often deep and commanding. But it's a testament
to the hypnotic groove laid down by the band and the deep
dense forest of structure that I didn't even realize at first
whether or not the songs were instrumental until I listened
to them over again and watched the tracklist. "Sleepers
Chant" for example is instrumental until around the three
minute mark when the song takes its unique twist. Opening
riffs are drawn out for extra measures the toyed with until
the riff is embedded in the brain, it's only then that the
band can move freely into the second act of the song.
Mountain Witch comes by this approach naturally and the
instrumental sections contribute greatly to the dark
atmosphere that the band has cultivated. Mountain Witch's
music is captivating without having to do too much. The
songs are well structured and dynamic, to the point where
instrumental segments stand alone and sound like fully
fleshed out songs in their own right, taking familiar themes
and sounds and darkening them subtly through tone and
extended passages.
Some Retro Rockers can take things too far. It doesn't
happen often, but when it does it's highly noticeable and
stretches the limits of creative license. What I'm talking
about is stealing moments. I'll explain. One band in
particular (let's call them Flower Band X) displays little to
no subtlety in their dipping into the cupboard of Black
Sabbath, stealing whole riffs or combining whole elements
from two songs to make "new" ones and I imagine they'll keep
at it until the cupboard is bare. Mountain Witch (like
Horisont) displays a deft hand for a more respectful kind of
knickery. They understand to take only one cookie at a time
from the cookie jar and even then not too often, otherwise
Mom and Dad are going to find out. You may hear a familiar
sound here or there as the band borrows a lick without
resorting to swiping whole songs entirely. On "The Covey",
you will feel an old familiar sting from the drum pattern of
"Children of the Grave". But Mountain Witch do it in their
own way. Had they say, played the guitar riff from the
Sabbath original overtop of it, this would be an entirely
different conversation. Look, the point is, Mountain Witch
do it the right way. Matter of fact, they do a lot of things
right.
Retro Rock, Doom Rock, call it what you will, Mountain
Witch's dark tunes strike the right notes, I have a feeling
that this will be one of the albums that I'll be going back
to for ages to come. The album has been released on CD
[here] and LP [here] by This Charming Man Records, I picked
up my copy already. You can always go with the ever popular
bandcamp download by clicking the links on the player below.
You'll probably want to, without making any promises from
this end I have another feeling that this album will be
"list-bombing" the year end best of lists.
source:
http://theparanoidmusicblog.blogspot.fi/2013/11/mountain-
witch-cold-river-album-review.html
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