Tag Archives: Seattle

Some Awesome News: New Bell Witch Album On Its Way Soon!!

Posted by valleyofsteel on

 
Ladies and Gentlemen and whoever else may be out there reading this: I just have two words for you. FUCK YEAH, NEW BELL WITCH!

And following that, a few more words: SHUT UP, I KNOW IT WAS FIVE WORDS, I CAN COUNT, HONESTLY!

Anyway, believe it or not, it’s been almost a year since the official release of the band’s demo EP (see it reviewed described in excruciating detail here.) And now reports are starting to come in about their upcoming full-length debut album, so it’s definitely time to start getting excited…

 
Late last night I stumbled across this little gem from Profound Lore Records, revealing the title and release date, and a sneak peek at one of the tracks! Well, half of a track anyway — only about the first eleven minutes’ worth. But still.

 

BELL WITCH – Album/Tour Announcement, New MP3 Posted

Published September 11, 2012 | By Profound Lore Records

 
Seattle extreme doom metal duo Bell Witch, comprised of bassist/vocalist Dylan Desmond (also of Samothrace fame) and drummer/vocalist Adrian Guerra, have completed their soul crushing debut album Longing along with announcing a U.S. tour to coincide with the release of Longing respectively.

By creating massive, epic, and crushing soundscapes of doom, all this merely with just bass, drums, and a dual vocal pummel, Longing expands on the promise Bell Witch laid down with their 2011 demo, which was seen as one of the best doom metal demos of last year. Longing (which features guest vocals by Erik Moggridge of Aerial Ruin on the track “Rows”) is a slow, time-stretching trodden journey through sounds of darkness, pain, and suffering and serves as one of the saddest, morose, and most despondent, stripped down, doom metal releases of the year.
 
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Just Released: Anhedonist – Netherwards

Posted by valleyofsteel on


 

Anhedonist – Netherwards (Dark Descent Records, 10 April 2012)

 
Good morning, Readers. Do you think I’m strange? Wait, don’t answer that. What I mean is, does it sound strange to you if I say that listening to some of the darkest, most mournful and depressing music actually makes me feel better? Here’s an example: last year I listened to a stream of Loss‘s critically-acclaimed album Despond, when that was made available shortly before the album’s release. I thought it was really good stuff — but shortly after that I was reading some reviews on some of the blogs I frequent, and admittedly I was confused by what they were saying. Stuff like how the experience took the listener to a really dark place, filled with torture and anguish and misery. I remember thinking to myself, I should really go back and listen to that again, because I remember coming out feeling peaceful and uplifted.

So with that in mind, I’ve come to the conclusion that there are two possible things happening here: either I am totally strange, with some sort of abnormal personality disorder… or else being at work (where I do quite a bit of my music listening) is such an awful and soul-crushing experience, that listening to aural expressions of pure melancholy actually can brighten that environment. I don’t know, probably it’s a little bit of both.

In any case, I’ve developed quite a taste for the doomier side of music. I love doom metal, I’ve found that I generally prefer death/doom over standard death metal, and just within the past year or so I’ve discovered a strong passion for Funeral Doom. So, the next logical step would be a Funeral Doom plus Death Metal hybrid, right? Of course it would. I propose that it would be called Funeral Death. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Anhedonist.
 
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Get to Know: Bell Witch (Review of Bell Witch Demo 2011)

Posted by valleyofsteel on

Bell Witch – Bell Witch Demo 2011 (3 October 2011)

image

I am forwarding this to you, because otherwise I would be responding to the message directly.

And I know if I did that, I would get into a lot of trouble.

That is a direct quote from an email I wrote to my boss today, passing along a rather impolite message I had received from someone in a different department. Without going into any specifics about the situation, I think that should give you enough of an idea about how MY day has been. How about you, Dear Reader? Are you in a better mood than yesterday? Have extra days off work or school on account of the holiday this weekend? Got all your presents bought and wrapped? Paid for all of them in cash, so there won’t be any huge credit card bills to look forward to, AND managed to pay all your regular bills this month, too?

If you answered “no” to any of these questions, or if you answered “yes” or if you just said “fuck off, why are you asking me so many questions” — in any case, I suspect that you could benefit from some more holiday cheer. And I don’t mean a bottle of wine (although I’m sure that couldn’t hurt, either!). No, just like I said in yesterday’s post, the best way to brighten your day, even if it’s just for a little while, is a healthy serving of some nice, bleak DOOOOOM. As I promised yesterday, I’ve got one batch coming your way today, and then another to follow tomorrow.

Our journey of discovery now takes us to the northwestern United States; specifically, to the city of Seattle, which was made famous in the 1990s as it is commonly regarded as the birthplace of the grunge movement. However, what we are seeking is something much deeper, much darker, and a whole lot slower — and we find exactly that on the recent demo recording by Seattleite duo Bell Witch, which is cleverly titled Bell Witch Demo 2011.

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