Written by Kep
Void Witch – Horripilating Presence
> Death/doom
> Texas, US
> Releasing July 26
> Everlasting Spew Records
It’s been said that there is nothing new under the sun—that saying is actually from the Bible, believe it or not—and I think most of us would agree that it’s true. But what about in the void? Is there new shit there? Unknowable horrors of impossible shape and size? Non-Euclidean monuments built of substances not known to man? Mammoth beings of twisting tentacles, rippling with myriad eyes at wet mouths? There might be a few things worth learning there in that place of darkness out of time, and Void Witch seek to bring them to us via the medium of death/doom.
Many of you Twitter folks might be familiar with some of the quartet’s members, who formed the outfit during the drudge of the COVID pandemic in Texas and announced their presence with a crushing two-track demo in October 2021. It was impressive enough that Everlasting Spew Records took note and scooped them up, re-releasing the demo as a debut EP with an additional track. Now the long-gestating first full-length is imminent and the Witch is prepared to unveil ancient mysteries untold on Horripilating Presence, to the tune of six tracks across approximately 39 minutes.
The band has cultivated a firmly unique sound in the death/doom space, one that’s rooted in the crushing but inherently melodic style of groups like Hooded Menace and Temple of Void, but that also incorporates swathes of influence from straight up OSDM (think Coffins), psychedelia, and other metal-adjacent styles. Void Witch isn’t one of those bands that finds a good riff and grooves in it for five minutes; the songs shift and mutate, contorting into new variations and forms in glorious musical body horror. Guitarists Nic and Jason are the primary architects of these eldritch evolutions, wrenching tracks from plodding doom dirges into death metal churn or classic riffy grooves in an instant with sudden, unsignaled turns.
Album opener “Grave Mistake” lays out the twisted blueprint for Void Witch’s signature song architecture in impressive fashion. After an introduction featuring flaring outbursts against measured plodding, it covers a remarkable range of sounds: at times crushing melodic doom, at others a slow elephant gallop, an uptempo heavy metal swagger piece complete with rockin’ solo, or an early-aughts Opeth clone. We’re left with no doubt about it: what lies within the beckoning void is an entanglement of fuckin’ riffs, manifold and legion.
Try to tear your ears away from the myriad unnatural angles in the main riff of “Second Demon”, or the full throttle thrash solo that leads back to the doom grooves later. Revel in the dual guitars with rattling parallel bass beneath that mark the most poignant moments in the spectacular “Malevolent Demiurge”. The band fires on all cylinders on this track, alternating methodical cathartic melodies with short passages of roiling death, the four members in uncannily tight lockstep. Bassist and frontman Luke showcases hefty tone on both fronts, his vocal delivery a satisfying throaty growl that’s similar to Temple of Void’s Mike Erdody but far more substantial. Nic and Jason open up the tone portal themselves and dip into all sorts of adjacent realms; they make some awfully grungy sounds in the front half of “Supernova of Brain and Bone”, for example, and they creep and crawl stretchily like long-legged spiders on the walls of “Thousand-Eyed Stalactite”. All members turn in killer performances, including drummer Adrian, who’s absolute bedrock from start to finish, but the band is always at their best when Nic and Jason’s guitars are wandering and coiling about the song’s architecture.
It’s an impressively strange and delightful outing no matter what way you look. The production has some space in it but there’s plenty of heft to keep things suitably heavy—though “heavy” isn’t really Void Witch’s calling card. The songs all feel distinctly in the band’s style, but each carries its own energy and the forms aren’t stale or repetitive. They pull so many sounds from the shimmering ebony void, but they summarily execute each one with deft understanding of what defines those sounds. Final track and lead single “Horripilating Presence” is sure to be a favorite among listeners: aggressive and death metal-forward, with some truly evil intervallic riff design that still keeps that florid feel Nic and Jason have established, plus some trippy and atmospheric passages for balance. The final 71 seconds is a charge into the pit of hell, driven by rolling double bass and relentless snare while the guitars wail unearthly tremolo tones.
THE BOTTOM LINE
There may not be anything new under the sun, but Void Witch are more than capable of taking things we’re familiar with and creating something that feels otherworldly. Showcasing diverse sounds and strong songwriting, Horripilating Presence is a hell of a debut from these cloak-mongers, whose strange path into unknowable darkness is one we should all be willing to take.