The duo formed in Seattle in 2010 progressively took control of a genre that was thought to be dormant. In 2015, "Four Phantoms" was one of the albums most unanimously praised by the press that follows the laws of plaster. The riffs are slow, heavy, colossal, larger than life or even death itself, punctuated with touches of heroism within a shell of lethargy, the gutural vocals show primordial ritualism. Then in 2017, "Mirror Reaper" broke the mold. A melancholic, meditative epic lasting over an hour where opposing forces are placed face to face in an exercise of immeasurable tension and exceptional dynamic control. That work still resonates strongly among any devotee of amplification walls, but BELL WITCH will be at SWR to present the recent "Future's Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate." Comparisons with the previous work will be inevitable, but this one has its own merits. Perhaps not as overwhelming and environmentally oppressive, but more diverse and instrumentally exploratory.
