A wee bit of research tells me that Witch Mountain (as opposed to Mountain Witch, or any of the other numerous “Mountainous” or “Witchy” stoner doom bands that abound!) have been going since 1997, and this is their fourth full length album, their first through Finnish super label Svart. My only prior experience of the band was with their recent free release via Scion A/V, ‘Bloodhound/A Greater Power.’ Based on ‘Mobile of Angels’, I think I have been depriving myself of some pretty damn good music, which just won’t do!
‘Psycho Animundi’ crawls forth first, the guitar sounding like Dave Chandler at his most stoned grimacing best, the whole stripped back instrumentation having more than a hint of classic Saint Vitus about it, a doomed trudging rhythm section dragging along the dark riffs. However, rather than the snarl of Wino, the listener is treated to the Grace Slick like siren cries of Uta Plotkin, her voice dripping with a powerful and dangerous sensuality, in the one track her vocals going from a harpy scream to the ethereal. In follow up ‘Can’t Settle’ there is a fair hint of blues to the opening of the song and its first guitar solo, a fog of doom then descending over the track and Plotkin’s voice goes from angelic harmony to demonic growl before again ascending to the heights on a wave of the psychedelic.
Centrepiece of the album is the ten and a half minute ‘Your Corrupt Ways (Sour the Hymn)’, its leisurely delivery allowing the band to explore their considerable skills and abilities without having to rush into the fray in a single friendly format. Again, the structure is decidedly bluesy, the betrayed melancholia of the vocals interplaying with subtle guitars and a restrained bass and drums in the opening, the unhurried pace allowing the song to wash over and immerse the listener in the timeless rock sounds that build up layer upon layer and could have emerged from the late sixties/early seventies rather than 2014.
By comparison the title track is a short, darkly psychedelic number, discordant organ sounds like an evil fairground ride echoing forth against spoken menacing lyrics and a backing chorus of damned angels; if H.P. Lovecraft had wanted a soundtrack to his Dream-Quest stories, ‘Mobile of Angels’ would be an ideal candidate.
Once again, Svart have signed themselves a band with a massive sound and potential to match. It’s just a shame that even before the album is released that vocalist Uta Plotkin is leaving. I can only hope that the band can find an equally capable replacement as there is so much in this album to enjoy. Whoever they find, they will have a lot to live up to.
(8/10 Spenny)
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