WITCHING – INCENDIUM

(Andy Synn hopes to ignite your interest in the new album from Philadelphia’s Witching, set for release this Friday)

It was just over three years ago that we hosted the premiere of Witching‘s first album, Vernal, describing it as:

“…a subtly proggy, occasionally doomy, but above all emotionally intense, form of Sludge reminiscent of both latter-day Ludicra and early Mastodon.”

And while that description still holds true for their debut, there’s no question that album #2 is an altogether more aggressive and incendiary piece of work.

I’m not entirely sure what happened to the band in the intervening years to make them this pissed off – though I can certainly think of at least a few potential contributory factors – but there’s no denying that the aggression levels on Incendium are practically through the roof.

Even if you don’t believe me right now, chances are it shouldn’t take much more than a minute (about twenty seconds more, to be precise) of “Last You, Fell From Divinity” for your own ears to convince you that what I’m saying is true, as it’s at this point that the album’s outstanding opener positively explodes out of the speakers in an all-out assault of blistering blastbeats and venom-spitting vocals that really have to be heard to be believed.

It immediately sets a very high bar for the rest of the record to live up to, that’s for sure, but – the occasional misstep aside (the doomy “From Beneath” still feels somewhat out of place to me, no matter how many times I hear it) – thankfully it’s one that the band are more than capable of hitting again and again, with songs like “Incendium” and “Prowling Oblivion” possessing a raw and visceral energy often reminiscent of classic At The Gates (albeit with an even crustier, almost blackened, edge).

And while there’s still elements of the band’s sound from their debut in the mix here and there – two of the the best tracks, “A Grave Mistake” and “So Young, So Useless”, cleverly combine the gloomier, proggier touches from their previous work(s) with their newfound love of full-throttle fury (with the latter in particular serving to greatly expand the scope of the group’s sound) – the overall impression you’re likely to be left with after listening to Incendium is one of a band not just reinvigorated but totally reborn, in a new and even more ferocious form.