As I type this review, it’s about 90 degrees fahrenheit in Chicago, or 32.2 degrees celsius for you non-American readers. The sun is beaming down in all its blistering glory and there isn’t a cloud in the sky. It’s the perfect weather to lay in your backyard and veg out to Mountain Witch. This German doom trio has less in common with the sounds of their native land and more in common with the primitive rumblings which shook American and England in the early 1970s. Their latest album, Extinct Cults, is testament to this.
Extinct Cults opens with the soothing vibes of “Capping Day”. Off the bat, I noticed an even more lo-fi production than usual for Mountain Witch. By lo-fi I don’t mean like black metal’s second wave, but more like a forgotten private press heavy psych relic you’d stumble across at your local record shop. The retro worship continues on “Back from the Grave”. With its atmospheric synths and melodic approach, it has a 70s hard rock flavor similar to Blue Öyster Cult.
The remaining tracks pay tribute to doom overlords Pentagram and Black Sabbath. “Worship You” and “Man is Wolf to Man” fall in the Pentagram category. “Worship You” is a monolith of 70s doom which wouldn’t sound out of place on one of the First Daze Here compilations. Meanwhile, my favorite song, “Man is Wolf to Man”, evokes shadows of Pentagram (1985) and Day of Reckoning (1987). Despite being uptempo, it’s the darkest and heaviest tune on Extinct Cults for my money. I wish more of today’s stoner/doom crop knew you don’t have to play at snail’s pace to be doomy, but I digress.
The title track and “The Devil, Probably!” are super Sabbathian in approach. Both start out nice and slow before switching things up to the point where it doesn’t even feel like the same song. Sabbath were masters of this technique (“Hand of Doom”, “Under the Sun”, “Killing Yourself to Live”, etc.). It’s refreshing to see Mountain Witch carry on this five decade old tradition with such efficiency.
Extinct Cults is an innovative approach to a style that’s grown all too stale. Mountain Witch has proven you can incorporate elements of hard rock, prog, psych, stoner, and various other styles and STILL put out an effective doom metal album. May their hazy riffed radiance never go extinct.
7 out of 10
Label: This Charming Man Records
Genre: Doom Metal
For fans of: Black Sabbath, Pentagram, Blue Öyster Cult