Witchcraft - The Alchemist - review
Witchcraft - The Alchemist - review
Tracklist
01. Walk Between The Lines02. If Crimson Was Your Colour
03. Leva
04. Hey Doctor
05. Samaritan Burden
06. Remembered
07. The Alchemist (Parts 1, 2 & 3)
A review by
jupitreas February 09, 2008
...or at least that is what the dudes from Witchcraft should have said, instead of spreading their attention thin between the two. One of the wonderful things about metal music is that it is not tied down to any particular social or political cause, besides perhaps supporting the Tinnitus party. This allows bands who put credence in their convictions to use the empowering metal sound structure as means to an end that is ultimately ideologically motivated. Witchcraft's latest album, The Alchemist occupies the unusual position of sounding fresh and hungry but having lyrics more trite than dialogues in The Bold And The Beautiful.
Musically this album is very interesting indeed. The Swedes jumped head-first into Roky Ericson worship this time around, with a touch of Pentagram thrown in for good measure. Ericson was notable, particularly with his 80s solo albums, for introducing a unique focus on madness and the mind-altering properties of music - an emphasis far more interesting than the childish horror-movie imagery that metal has traditionally been associated with. At least musically, Witchcraft matches this emphasis on The Alchemist - the riffs are hypnotic and mystical, there is a very potent element of psychedelia present in almost every note and the singer's vocal stylings recall the ambiguous sanity of the 13th Floor Elevators' famous vocalist. Sadly, his lyrics do not. Lines such as 'In our darkest hour/ When the dragon releases its power' or the particularly amusing 'I can blow your mind!' unfortunately reveal that there is no greater depth behind the storming music. This, in my mind, is a sore disappointment. Sure, those sigils appearing in various RPG literature might look cool and mystical, but they reveal nothing more than a sentimental nostalgia for Campbellian tales of fantasy. This Alchemist does not dwell in actual sorcery but merely in hero worship.
Just to be clear, all of this still does not prevent the music on this album from being absolutely phenomenal. Ignore the lyrics, the lack of depth and direction and what you have left is a nearly flawless psychedelic sludge doom metal release, with excellent tracks like "Hey Doctor" or "Walk Between The Lines" putting most bands in the genre to shame. Nevertheless... lads from Witchcraft, I have some advice for you - either stop hanging out in Games Workshop stores or leave reinventing a legend like Ericson to bands like Entombed.
Comments
Comments:
12
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 Posts: 12195 |
Posts: 12195
I didn't actually pay attention to the lyrics but I do love the music on this one - a great mix between traditional doom and psychedelic rock. Somewhat more upbeat than the band's previous works though. But all in all, a highly enjoyable record.
---- About me: "The best out of all the people ever" - Washington Post "We abandoned Christ for Destroyah's love!" - The Watchtower "Simply amazing!" - Rolling Stone
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 Posts: 7263 |
Posts: 7263
This album is great, but the vocals are too loud. Good review.
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 Posts: 9726 |
Posts: 9726
Yeah, I have there previous album "Firewood", and it doesn't sound to different from this. Enjoyable but nothing that original.
---- "I got a lot of really good ideas, problem is, most of them suck." - George Carlin
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Posts: 1727
extremely seductive album, I even like the cheesy lyrics
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Posts: 3
I could not diss-agree about the lyrics more. Witchcraft are some of the best song writers around, both musically and lyrically. There is not a track on this record I don't absolutely love, it's just a little short at forty only min.
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Posts: 247  |
Posts: 247
I just bought this on a whim, based on the good vibe the cover gave me. Glad I did - this is quite good.
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| !J.O.O.E.!
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!J.O.O.E.!
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It never occurred to me that Jup called this sludge doom. Probably the least sludgy albums ever made 
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 Posts: 40071 |
Posts: 40071 Written by [user id=4365] on 22.09.2014 at 23:18 Where does he call it sludge doom? I have re-read it three times now and still haven't found that reference 
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| !J.O.O.E.!
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!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 22.09.2014 at 23:28 The second line of the final paragraph. Unless I misread it and he's talking about another band. Doesn't look like he is though haha
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Posts: 40071 Written by [user id=4365] on 22.09.2014 at 23:31 Oh yeah he does indeed. Time for new glasses it seems for me occult retro rock (wouldn't even call it psychedelic and it isn't all that doom either although there is some doom present) is what this is nothing sludge about it at all.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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 Posts: 6663 |
Posts: 6663 Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 22.09.2014 at 23:33 Heh, it was 7 years ago, dunno what I was thinking (BTW, I'd say that the specific categorization is the least important part of this review!)
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