I don't know what's more surprising. J. Mascis (guitarist of Dinosaur Jr) doing a metal record, or J.Mascis playing drums instead of guitar. Even crazier is that vocals and all guitar work are played by the freak-folk group Feathers. Who who ever think that such a combination would turn out to be one of the best metal records I've heard all year. Now don't get confused, this isn't radio metal, or even modern underground metal. This is plain and simple, "Sabbath" metal. Much like recent bands Wolfmother and The Sword, Witch play tribute to the simpler times of Doom rock.  So what's the difference between Witch and these other retro-metal artists?

    For one, Witch is ALL about the guitars. Vocal work is faint and rarely the main focus. No, it's the guitar riffs that get all the glory. Most songs contain little in the way of lyrics. This becomes pretty obvious in the epic eight minute opener, Seer. The track simply beats you down with a metal riff with just the hint of garage blues, very similar to old Sabbath. This, like most tracks, constantly build and build, until they eventually burst at the seems. It makes for a powerful and sludge filled listening experience. Most songs reference the obvious black magic, evil wizards, demon, all the rest of that fun stuff. You may even hear Ozzy-inspired evil laughter on a few tracks. While there are only seven tracks on the album, most of them are epic guitar battles that will leave you dizzy yet satisfied. Songs like Changing and Hand of Glory will remind you of why 70's metal was so much fun in the first place.

    What makes Witch a successful record is it's faithfulness. It's never takes itself completely serious, but at the same time it doesn't go into excess arrogance either. The record comes off as a fun side project by a bunch of talented musicians, who probably learned how to play guitar by listening to bands like Sabbath and Venom. Most hardcore metalheads (do people still use that term?) will most likely look right past this release. This isn't Mastadon, but it isn't trying to be. However, fans of the way metal used to sound before hair bands and rap music got in the way, will find much to love on this rad debut.

8.0/10.0 - Will the REAL Black Sabbath fans please stand up?