Witchorious – Witchorious

Witchorious
Witchorious
Label: Argonauta Records
Out: February 16^th, 2024
Playing time: 56:22

The Doom Metal trio Witchorious was founded in the French capital Paris in 2019. The first two singles were released one year later. The two songs obviously appeared on a self-titled EP in the same year. This was followed by two more singles (“Monster” – 2023 and “The Witch” – 2024). Both can be found on the also self-titled debut album. There are also several live performances to report.

The album starts with the meaningful title “Monster”. The sound is characterised by hard, low-pitched guitars. Raw drumming and pumping bass complete the whole thing. Antoine Auclair alternates between clear vocals and growls. “Catharsis” is hardly inferior to its predecessor. The number of beats has been increased a little. Antoine sings in duet with bassist Lucie Gaget. Thanks to her somewhat deeper voice, she is a real enrichment for the songs. Worth mentioning are the guitar riffs, which strike mercilessly. And so it goes on, the guitars fry, the vocals tend between bittersweet and bitter growls, paired again and again with melodic sections. The sound is slowed down. Just Classic Doom, with Death elements. You can hear this in “The Witch”, “Blood”, “Eternal Night” and “Eternal Night”, among others. I’ll save myself the trouble of listing all the other songs here. But “Eternal Night” in particular is characterised by Lucie’s ethereal-sounding vocals. The instrumental interlude “Amnesia” is a little confusing for me, and with a playing time of one and a quarter minutes it is also by far the shortest track. “To The Grave” is an interesting splash of colour thanks to the clean guitars. Although the entire album is very quiet, this song could be described as a ballad. The album ends with another Doom monster (“Why”).

Witchorious play unspoilt Doom, without any compromises. There are hardly any technical gimmicks to be heard. This is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, the songs sound as if they have been cast from a single mould. The gloomy mood gives me goose bumps. But this also means that there is little variety. Some listeners will find this almost one hour monotonous. But if you listen carefully, everyone can find something to enjoy. I’m just thinking of the great guitar solo in “Why” or the ballad “To The Grave”. At least I like it.

Track list:

• Monster
• Catharsis
• The Witch
• Blood
• Eternal Night 
• Sanctuaire
• Amnesia
• Watch Me Die
• To The Grave
• Why