Witchcraft: Idag

Sweden's doom merchants Witchcraft return with their seventh studio album, and first for Heavy Psych Sounds Records, Idag. After their previous album Black Metal disappointed many fans with its mostly acoustic guitar & vocal styled songs, pretty much a Magnus Pelander, most were hoping for a return to heavy music from this outfit. Idag does mostly that, though there are some lingering folk/acoustic tracks on this album as well, but those hankering for a return to the thunder have a good chunk of this album to look forward to.

"Idag" is a lumbering, bruising slab of Swedish doom, with vocals/lyrics sung in Magnus' native tongue. I really love the massive riffing, the bluesy, wah-wah drenched soloing, resulting in a somber, and heavy. 8+ minutes of quality Witchcraft. "Drommar av is" reminds me of Blue Cheer, or even November. It's bluesy and heavy hard rock, big guitar and bass riffs, though I wish it was longer. "Drommen om did och forruttnelse" is another short, bruising heavy track, complete with big riffs, as it seems like the band is going for simpler, more dirge-like stuff here, which I don't have a problem with.

There's the short little acoustic guitar and vocal piece "Om du vill" , which is haunting, bluesy, and folky. "Glantan" is another short acoustic guitar piece...nice enough, but not overly noteworthy. "Burning Cross" gives us the first English vocals on the album, a crushing doom track, which might be the heaviest song on the album. Wicked riffing, nasty wah-wah passages...hell yeah! "Irreligious Flamboyant Flame" is a cool heavy blues rock track, has a nice shuffle, with a Cream meets Blue Cheer vibe and a dose of early Sabbath thrown in for good measure. But then there is "Christma", another acoustic & vocal track, pretty dreary, and my least favorite track on the album. Up next is the slow, bluesy, doom-laden dirge that is "Spirit". This one is like Free meets Pentagram meets Crazy Horse...kind of one note, but it's not bad. The album ends with "Om du vill (Slight Return)", another brief little acoustic & vocal piece, also kind of throwaway.

In summary, much of this is quite good, though I'm not sure what Magnus' fascination with little folky acoustic guitar & vocal music is...apparently he didn't get that all out of his system on Black Metal. For the most part, this is a pretty traditional old-school bluesy heavy rock & doom release that should satisfy most longtime Witchcraft fans.

Track Listing
1. Idag 08:06
2. Drömmar av is 02:55
3. Drömmen om död och förruttnelse 03:24
4. Om du vill 02:36
5. Gläntan 01:02
6. Burning Cross 04:59
7. Irreligious Flamboyant Flame 03:54
8. Christmas 06:07
9. Spirit 06:30
10. Om du vill (Slight Return) 00:44

Added: June 22nd 2025
Reviewer: Pete Pardo
Score:
Related Link: Band @ Bandcamp
Hits: 158
Language: english

[ Printer Friendly Page ]
[ Send to a Friend ]