Warthur Witch Mountain deliver up a competent brand of doom metal on Cauldron of the Wild which doesn't quite manage to rise above its nostalgia roots. Uta Plotkin's clean vocals add an interesting element, but once the novelty wears off the underlying music seems fairly lukewarm to me - it ticks most of the traditional doom metal boxes, sure, but it doesn't really do very much after that aside from pandering to nostalgia, and when there's so many stoner/traditional doom bands out there who do more than that I see little reason to settle for Witch Mountain unless one is particularly devoted to this specific genre.

Time Signature Doomkeeper...

Genre: doom metal

I'm sorry but this calls for a Robin-style exclamation: "Holy 10.000 tons of steel, Batman!" Cauldron of the Wild is the third album from doomsters Witch Mountain. Their music is normally categorized as stoner doom, and, although I prefer the "doom" to the "stoner", I must say that Witch Mountain have committed a near-masterpiece in this album.

While the stoner-element and the psychedelic aspect are present, Witch Mountain definitely seem to prioritize the doom-part. Thus, the listener is treated to crushingly heavy riffs, some of which are groove, and all of which are awesome. Just check the heavy stomping riffs and beats in 'The Ballad of Lanky Rae' or the doom-laden opening riff of 'Shelter' as well as classic doom metal crunch of the main riff of 'Veil of the Forgotten'. While not slow as such, Witch Mountain's music definitely has the same heaviness of early doom metal. Even the more uptempo parts, as heard in 'Shelter', sound heavy and doomy. The two last tracks are considerably long with 'Aurelia' being epic and varied, while 'Never Know' slowly builds up momentum (if that word can be used in a doom metal context).

Rather than opting for technically advanced and complex guitar solos, Rob Wrong's leads are decidedly blues rock-based, which suits the retro twangy sound of the rhythm guitar distortion incredibly well. I really like Uta Plotkin's vocals which at times have that psychedelic feel of 70s rock music, while at other times they come across as being almost operatic and epic.

Fans of doom metal of the more retro kind should definitely give this album a listen or more. As stoner doom goes, Cauldron of the Wild belongs in the upper echelon.

(review originally posted at seaoftranquility.org)