(written by Islander)
If you’re making a heavy Halloween playlist you’d be remiss if you don’t include something from Witchpit, and not just because of their name. Their music itself has the capacity to sound witchy and spooky, to reach plateaus of intensity that are scary, even when delivering the kind of monster riffs and visceral punch that shake the floor and the foundations beneath it.
It’s also an especially good time to be thinking of these South Carolina sluggers because they’ve readied a new song and video for this Halloween night that we’re about to reveal. It’s from their forthcoming second album Forever Spoken, which will be out in mid-November via Heavy Psych Sounds and is adorned by the great Dan Seagrave‘s attention-seizing cover art, also perfect for Halloween. The song’s name is “Through Eyes of Apathy“.
photos by Chloe Dalton Photos
The label provides this overview of Forever Spoken:
The new album is a powerful exploration of humanity’s quest to leave a lasting legacy, delving into the trials, adversities, and struggles that shape our journey and challenge our ability to fulfill our destiny. Musically, it ventures into the realms of southern metal and sludge, featuring intricate riffs and heavy metal double bass rhythms that elevate its intensity and complexity.
And we have this statement from the band about the song you’re on the verge of hearing:
“Through Eyes of Apathy” explores the theme of making a bold decision to abandon one’s past relationships and familiar surroundings. It captures the struggle of breaking free from emotional ties and the desire for a fresh start. The lyrics reflect the tension between nostalgia and the need for change ultimately celebrating the courage it takes to forge a new path.”
Images come to mind in listening to the particular monster-riffs in this new song, images of things heavy and rough, things like big sycamores layered in moss, or thick girders roughened by rust, or being massaged with steel wool.
But there’s also something about the way those rough tones come out that makes the music feel steamy and swampy. And the way they come out is in riffing that alternates between a moaning wail and the punchy bursts of a big nail-gun discharging coffin spikes, and it also writhes like an engorged python.
The riffs create a mood that’s sinister and supernatural, somehow both oppressive and dangerously ecstatic, and the slithering solo proves to be not only supernatural but also seductive.
That’s all undergirded by gut-slugging bass-lines and skull-snapping drum-beats that provide primal grooves. But what might seize attention most of all are the vocals.
Denny Stone has a hell of an intensely impassioned voice, which ranges between jagged bay-at-the-moon wails and the screams of someone being strangled with barbed wire but still trying to get at his executioner’s throat. He also impressively hits high-flying clean notes that turn out to be just as spine-tingling.
Witchpit present this excellent (and highly infectious) song through a video that gives a good idea of what their animated live shows are like, complete with highly animated fans eating it up and getting sweaty.
WITCHPIT is:
Denny Stone – vocals
Thomas White – guitars
Jesse Lane – bass
Jeremy Grobsmith – drums
The album was recorded with Phillip Cope (Kylesa, Baroness, Black Tusk), who also mixed the record, and it was mastered at the famed Audiosiege.
Heavy Psych Sounds will release Forever Spoken on November 15th, on CD and variant LP vinyl formats, and they’re up for pre-order now. The album should especially appeal to fans of Eyehategod, Crowbar, and High On Fire.
PRE-ORDER:
https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/
WITCHPIT:
https://witchpit.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/witchpit/
https://www.instagram.com/witchpitofficial/
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