Band:	Bell Witch
Album:	Mirror Reaper
Style:	Funeral doom metal
Release date:	October 20, 2017
A review by:	ScreamingSteelUS

01. Mirror Reaper (As Above)
02. Mirror Reaper (So Below)

Bell Witch already had a broader emotional span and more colorful sonic palette than most funeral doom bands, but informed by the untimely death of former drummer/vocalist Adrian Guerra last year, Mirror Reaper embodies something even heavier and more personal. The sober, reflective nature of the band's sound feels even more palpable than before. Thrice now they have produced a serious contender for doom album of the year.

Depending on how you look at it, Mirror Reaper comprises either a single, unbroken, 84-minute track or two smaller tracks that are somewhere between 0 and 84 minutes, but either way, this is a formidable slab of molasses-paced music that seems forbidding even for funeral doom fans. An album has to be highly convincing for a listener to spend 84 minutes on it (and in one go, for the full experience), but Bell Witch could have kept going for twice as long and I would have kept pace with them. The first time I listened to this album, I pressed "play" wanting only a short sample, intending to get some idea of the sound of Mirror Reaper and sit down for a proper experience at a later time. Instead, I sat through the album's entirety right there, invested in every droning note, enraptured by the overwhelming flood of emotional music as with every time I listen to Bell Witch. Then, in the afternoon, I did the same thing.

Whether regarded as one part or two, Mirror Reaper is a seamless piece of music that finds a perfect balance between consistency and novelty. The album is varied and exploratory enough to maintain my full interest for all 84 minutes, but remains recognizable as one discrete musical entity. That very concept is impressive enough itself, but is only a curiosity compared to the actual content of the album. While begun before Adrian Guerra's death in 2016, Mirror Reaper's evolution was heavily impacted by it, and even features samples of Guerra's voice; in addition, folk musician Erik Moggridge returns to provide guest vocals as on the last two Bell Witch albums, which makes Mirror Reaper a product of the greater Bell Witch family. The album has a genuine soul; the sounds of despair and pain are very real.

There are times when I feel as though I'm listening to Warning, when the band unfurls an immense riff that takes a whole minute to complete and sounds increasingly anguished at every turn. Much of Mirror Reaper wanders beyond the purview of metal, continuing the journey without the aid of percussion, growling, or even distortion. Several lengthy passages are spent in the calm embrace of meandering bass lines, lovingly crafted, prog-like ventures with ethereal clean vocals and perhaps a single, endless organ chord in the background to add space and context to the sound. The lightness in sound and liturgical quality of the melodies create an atmosphere of something like acceptance or reassurance: the parts of the funeral where you remember your loved one as they once were, rather than dwelling on your own loss.

Then reality comes crashing back unbidden. In (relatively) short spurts come anger, aggression, and the full, crushing weight of a funeral doom taking off the gloves and initiating the punishment. Suddenly, the low end returns to the bass, the harsh vocals kick in, the riff drops into a sinister progression, and the "Reaper" persona takes over. Afterwards, the tone turns toward the epic, with vocals shrieking to the skies and vanishing into an echo over the still-droning, still-mourning bass. Entire soundscapes of wondrous beauty ebb and flow as mere chapters of one larger work; Bell Witch have mastered so many moods and forms of expression, and with such minimalism at that, that few bands can rival their dynamics. Jesse Shreibman, who stepped in after Four Phantoms to replace Guerra, adds a splash of organ to Bell Witch's wall of sound from time to time, but the duo otherwise relies purely on bass, drums, and vocals to accomplish Mirror Reaper's massive presence, as is tradition. The depth and complexity of sound that Bell Witch can accomplish with such minimal instrumentation never ceases to amaze me.

Mirror Reaper is an immense album to take in, even broken up into smaller pieces, but it makes for a stunning experience when consumed in one, unbroken session, and I would encourage all listeners to set aside the time to do so.