Witch: Witch

It’s been a longstanding tradition in the post-punk music world for members of not-so-hard sounding bands to form side projects that throw their hands up to the heavy music that has influenced many an indie-rock musician. Sometimes this leads to poorly executed metal bands that ultimately mock the genre that the bands are trying to pay tribute to. Fortunately, this is not the case with Witch.

Comprised of Dinosaur Jr.’s J. Mascis and two members of the ultra-folk band Feathers, Witch pounds the proverbial nail in the crucifix of metal (and I mean slow, heavy metal ala ’60s Black Sabbath era metal) with their seven-song, self-titled debut release. J. Mascis takes the drummer’s seat while Kyle Thomas from Feathers heads up the vocals over the course of this perfectly paced record that takes the listener back to a time when heavy rock was taken seriously by the bands that played it and the fans alike.

In a time when every genre has been run into the ground and become a self-defeating joke, listening to Witch almost fills the listener with a sense of triumph. Fuck yes, it’s metal. Fuck yes, they’re serious and it’s about time somebody got it right.

- Chris Smith
Witch (Tee Pee Records)