Band:	Depressive Witches
Album:	Lost, Forgotten And Heartbroken
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	May 2024

01. Protected By Death And Sorcery
02. All My Girlfriends Are Dead
03. Wasted Witch
04. Controversial Rock'n'Roll
05. Lost, Forgotten And Heartbroken
06. Dance Of The Witch
07. Alcoholic Forest
08. All For The King
09. Far Away

These witches don't sound very Lost, Forgotten And Heartbroken to me, let alone depressed, certainly not by going on how much groovy fun they're having on this record.

For those yet to be introduced to Depressive Witches, they're a French black metal duo established in 2018 by Torvuus (guitars/drums) and Sick Bab (guitars/vocals). Now, I use the term black metal loosely when describing the particular style this duo play, as they go beyond just a regular traditional black metal sound; instead, perhaps a more fitting description of their style would be an infusion of black'n'roll, blackened heavy metal, crust punk, and meloblack. Following Bad Flask (2021) and Distant Kingdoms (2022), the band now introduce their third full-length offering Lost, Forgotten And Heartbroken. Despite the simplistic structure of the previous two releases, they were certainly enjoyable, full of many headbangable groovy moments, but does this latest effort pick up from where the previous efforts left off?

Anyone who listened to the previous release Distant Kingdoms might remember that the band bore quite a remarkable resemblance to Inquisition; their melodic riff patterns, raw punkish edge, and even the Kermit the frog vocal style were uncannily similar. Therefore, Distant Kingdoms offered a more than ideal listening experience for those less willing to listen to Inquisition due to their recent controversies. However, Lost, Forgotten And Heartbroken doesn't follow the the same formula; for a start, the tracks are much shorter and the tempo has substantially faster, as this record exhibits far less of a traditional black approach, instead featuring something more along the lines of a blackened heavy/black'n'roll approach.

The album contains a total of 9 tracks written between 2020 and 2024, and with track titles such as "All My Girlfriends Are Dead", "Wasted Witch" and "Alcoholic Forest", some might think that this suggests a band not to be taken seriously; perhaps you're even expecting a blackened version of Alestorm? If so, you may be happy to learn that this band isn't quite at that level of corniness, but are still equally melodic, energetic, and more importantly, entertaining. This is one of those very few cases where every track contains a memorable, catchy riff pattern, and the clean singing choruses are equally memorable ("Dance Of The Witch" and "All My Girlfriends Are Dead" especially so), while the harsh vocal verses complement the cleans very well, despite perhaps not being performed a top-level standard. The short album length of 32 minutes is more than ideal, as one quick-fire listen will have you wanting to replay the album again from the beginning; I, for one, was instantly hooked on first listen, and have had a guilty pleasure of playing it many times over since.

Overall, Lost, Forgotten And Heartbroken isn't an album created for showcasing masterful musicianship, nor is it breaking the boundaries for originality. Some of the riffs may sound all too familiar, and there's no outrageous complexity, breathtaking technicality, or intense atmospheric build-ups. What this is, is simple, in-your-face, ferocious, groovy, and enjoyable black'n'roll for metalheads with an appetite for something a bit more accessible.