South Carolina’s WITCHPIT Bring Home The Goods on ‘The Weight of Death’
~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~
By Billy Goate
Album Art by Nino Andaresta
There's something mighty powerful about the WITCHPIT sound and it has everything to do with their thick, syrupy guitar tone. I've been in love with Southern sludge since my first encounters with Down, Crowbar, Hollow Leg, and even sonic transplants in the subgenre like Holy Grove and Demonic Death Judge.
On Witchpit's full-length debut 'The Weight of Death' (2022), the crew dish out a genuine feast for the ears with deliciously downtuned doom devastation that rumbles along like a muscle car, with speeds reaching High on Fire and Motörhead. But this is still Southern sludge, so it'll slow down and just let that engine purr at absolutely the best moments. More than once in my daily shuffle, I've found myself stopping in arrested attention to ask, "Who's this band?!?"
Side A begins with the grinding "OTTR," in which guitarist Thomas White channels his inner Matt Pike for a song that can really chug-a-lug. I'm not sure what "OTTR" means, other than it could be an acronym for "On Time to Requirement" which is a common metric in customer service delivery. I am probably way off base, but roll with me on this train of thought for a moment and imagine it as a portrait of the frantic, mad dash to delivery that our pandemic world has become. Then imagine the desire to escape it all ("Looking at the off-ramp, instead of the highway"). Two minutes in, we're on a groovy smoke break and all is well with the world. Just me and the sunshine, man. That, of course, is just the story I've made up in my head (it's fun, you should try it sometime). One thing's indisputable: those molasses slow riffs are mighty sweet.
"The Blackened Fee" is a favorite I keep coming back to. Frontman Denny Stone's vocals are positively damning, his teeth gritting growls pronouncing judgment on scoundrels. His singing is all the more effective thanks to the hypnotic sway of the guitar beneath each verse. White's riffs cut like a bed of buzzsaws, man. But wait, there's more. In the song's second-half, we are treated to the most delicious example of the band's dark, swampy ire. Ominous strumming leads us to a new theme, and this dirge is a thing of real beauty. It'll get your body to moving like a cobra caught in the rhythm of the snake charmer's pungi.
The title track caps the three-song set, and it's a rousing finish at that. Now, off to the B-side. "Autonomous Deprivation" features bold beats and Sabbathesque trills that play out like a grizzly campfire tale, about that time on a humid summer's eve when the jug gets passed 'round and urban legends are told. "Fire & Ice" is what happens after you've had just enough of the juice to convince you to get up and dance. The exuberance of Harold Smith's off-beat drumming (he of Black Hand Throne & Legba), really gives us the sense of stumbling about the fire -- first in delirious merriment, then in sober realization once scorched by one foot too far in the flame.
The needle finishes the flip side in grand fashion with "Mr. Miserum." Stone's pipes are in full bloom and practically melodic, without ever needing to change his vocal style or strain his cords. As with "The Blackened Fee," this track has a memorable second-half. This one's like a hoedown of skeletons in the graveyard in that album art by Nino Andaresta (a perfect match in composition and color to the album's verve).
The Weight of Death releases Friday, with three limited edition vinyl variants and a six-panel digipak issued by Heavy Psych Sounds (get it here). The band worked with producer Phillip Cope (whose credits include Kylesa and Oakskin) at the Jam Room Recording Studio in Columbia, and the ambience is right on -- robust, but nasty.
Witchpit's freshman offering is a groove-laden headbanger, for damn sure. I've been humming the riffage from it all week and recommend pairing it with High on Fire's Death Is This Communion). While you await the public release, enjoy this Doomed & Stoned exclusive first listen (and dig our recent interview with the band).
Give ear...
LISTEN: Witchpit - The Weight of Death (2022)
SOME BUZZ
Witchpit is a four-piece sludge metal band from South Carolina whose unorthodox approach pushes the genre in exciting new directions. Their sound fuses the influence of high powered stoner rockers like High On Fire with the more moody and thoughtful work of Neurosis. With a heavy dose of tone worship and a passion for vintage gear, the band is able to conjure up classic tones that serve to bring the sound to an exciting new place.
WITCHPIT - The Weight Of Death by HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS Records
Formed back in 2015 by Thomas White from The Sign of the Southern Cross, Your Chance To Die, and his long lasting relationships from around the South Carolina heavy music community, Witchpit quickly became a serious force in their scene. After recording their first single “Infernal” in 2018 the band started to make waves, releasing the track through Weedian. Over the next few years the band dropped another pair of singles and started to receive some meaningful press and support from around the community. The band Nile has been outspoken in their support of the band and YouTubers Riffs Beards & Gear and Does It Doom have both come out and expressed their love for this project. In the meantime they picked up endorsements from Emperor Cabinets and Black Harbor Strings.
Now, Witchpit are gearing up to release their debut LP, with the help of Heavy Psych Sounds. They’ve worked hard to build up their reputation and refine their sound into something special and emotionally powerful. They’ve got music videos shot and even more on the way. It’s hard not to be charmed by Witchpit’s classic rock infused sludge metal assault. It marks the next step for a unique band who can’t help but to impress. Will you join them in their mission to bring the heavy all across the globe?
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