Witchcraft - Swedish retro rockers return with "Legend"

Well, it's been eons since any news came out of the Witchcraft camp, but here's a recent announcement from their Facebook page...

After a 5 year hiatus, Witchcraft is currently recording the follow up to 2007's The Alchemist together with renowned producer Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios (KREATOR, OPETH, AMON AMARTH, PARADISE LOST, KATATONIA).

The albums working title is set to Legend and will feature the bands new guitarists and drummer for the first time:
Simon Solomon – guitars
Tom Jondelius – guitars
Oscar Johansson – drums

Furthermore, band leader Magnus Pelander will from now on focus on his unique vocals without playing guitar anymore.

Commented Pelander: "There's magic going on in the studio and we can hardly wait to eventually give something back to our loyal fans! We know you guys have been waiting for this!"

So, there have been ALOT of changes since their last album. Magnus is no longer playing guitar (a shame, he's good) and they now have 2 new guitarists and a new drummer. So it looks like only Magnus and the bass player remain from the band I saw in 2008.

But since Magnus is the primary songwriter I expect it to still sound like Witchcraft. These guys are my favorites of the Swedish retro scene, so I'm looking forward to hearing what they come up with.

Very cool. Looking forward to hearing some new material from these guys.

I've been on a bit of a Swedish/retro kick as of late with Horisont and have been spinning these guys allot lately as well.

I hope the new members don't change up the dynamic of the band too much. They got a nice groove going. No time frame as to when we can expect a new album though, huh? Later this year maybe?

No idea on when the album will be finished and ready for release, I would guess end of the year at the earliest.

I really liked The Alchemist! If it's good like that album I'll get another of theirs............. on vinyl.

chewie wrote:

I really liked The Alchemist! If it's good like that album I'll get another of theirs............. on vinyl.

If you liked that album, you'll like their other 2 as well.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

I just got that one last weekend.

i listened to some stuff from this band and i like what i heard.

I've heard the s/t, it was pretty good if I remember correctly.

All three albums (Witchcraft, Firewood, The Alchemist) are worth picking up, an excellent band.

It's about time!

Mark your calendar Witchcraft fans...

Quote :

Swedish doom metal kings WITCHCRAFT have set "Legend" as the title of their fourth album, due on September 21 via the band's new label home, Nuclear Blast Records.

Thanks for the update! Here's hoping it was worth the very long wait.

Witchcraft has a new digital single coming out July 30th (7 inch vinyl coming later in August). The new song is called "It's Not Because Of You", there will also be a non-album b-side entitled "Take Me With You When You Die".

S.D. wrote:

Witchcraft has a new digital single coming out July 30th (7 inch vinyl coming later in August). The new song is called "It's Not Because Of You", there will also be a non-album b-side entitled "Take Me With You When You Die".

That should be a cool pick up for collectors.

New single "It's Not Because Of You" available to stream on Soundcloud.

http://soundcloud.com/nuclearblastrecords/witchcraft-its-not-because-of

Sounds good!

Pretty cool. The guitar sounds a little heavier or dirtier or something. I like.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Pretty cool. The guitar sounds a little heavier or dirtier or something. I like.

There are differences, but I think they are primarily the recording/mix...plus these are two new guitarists. This sounds like a modern recording (a quite nice one for a change), probably digital, modern drum miking techniques, punchier low end and the bass is eq'd differently and higher in the mix.

Their previous albums were recorded in a converted basement studio using all vintage gear, going for the full retro sound. They've just modernized the recording part but the core band sound is very close to their earlier albums. I like both conceptions, they are just different approaches.

Really nice tune, very well arranged and shows some definite maturity in their songwriting.

Another new song.



I definitely prefer the production style of their earlier albums, but I'm still looking forward to hearing this new one. The mid-section of this song is nicely arranged.

Problems with this track; the imitation digital "backwards reverb" on the vocals doesn't work for a full song, it gets annoying and doesn't sound authentic (compare to the intro of Megalomania from Sabotage to hear it done analog and correctly). WAY too much high end sizzle, too compressed, the lead guitar is barely audible due to poor EQ choices.

I'm looking forward to this release.

I remember reading a review of the s/t album when it came out, in the music section of Rue Morgue, and they said things like "you can hear the weed smoke coming out of the speakers" and "should've been the album to come out between Master of Reality and Volume 4". Needless to say I immediately picked it up, and loved it.

The subsequent two albums were just as great.

The comparisons to Black Sabbath are WAY overstated. There is definitely an influence there, but it's not nearly as overt as what it described above. Nothing in Witchcraft's entire catalog is as heavy as Master of Reality and Volume 4. If you had to compare them to Sabbath it sounds more like the debut album from 1970 than anything else.

Their influences are much broader than that and they take just as much from T. Rex, 13th Floor Elevators and other psych-rock bands as they do from Sabbath or Zeppelin. They sound like a melting pot of European rock styles recorded between 1968 and 1975.

S.D. wrote:

The comparisons to Black Sabbath are WAY overstated. There is definitely an influence there, but it's not nearly as overt as what it described above. Nothing in Witchcraft's entire catalog is as heavy as Master of Reality and Volume 4. If you had to compare them to Sabbath it sounds more like the debut album from 1970 than anything else.

Their influences are much broader than that and they take just as much from T. Rex, 13th Floor Elevators and other psych-rock bands as they do from Sabbath or Zeppelin. They sound like a melting pot of European rock styles recorded between 1968 and 1975.

I agree with that. And when I got the album, I remember thinking that they likened it to Black Sabbath too much. However, their comparing it to Sabbath sealed the deal as far as my decision went to buy it, without hearing a single note.

The way I see it, while doomy and sludgy and other stoner/Sabbath-influenced bands have been around since...right after Sabbath formed, I don't think they've been as much in the forefront of most people's minds until the past decade.

So at that time, this dude heard this very vintage sounding record, with obviously similar lyrical content, and definitely influenced by Sabbtah (but who wasn't influenced by them, anyway?), and that's the first thing he thinks.

I never got much of a Sabbath-vibe from them. They've always sounded more psychadelic rock than heavy or doom metal.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

I never got much of a Sabbath-vibe from them. They've always sounded more psychadelic rock than heavy or doom metal.

Correct, they sound like what paved the way for doom in the first place. All those different "genres" that exploded in the late 60s (fusion, progressive rock, proto-metal, space rock) all came from the experimentation of psychedelic bands.

S.D. wrote:

They sound like a melting pot of European rock styles recorded between 1968 and 1975.

That!!! Right there!

The new songs sound pretty cool.