Melodic and monolithic, the Scottish doom-metal band King Witch makes its full-length debut with Under the Mountain, and this one’s a doozy. Vocalist Laura Donnelly delivers an unleashed performance on songs that owe major debts to Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Mastodon. She exudes both femininity and ferociousness on full-throttle cuts like “Carnal Sacrifice” and “Approaching the End.” Fans of both heavy doom and classic rock will find plenty of sonic sinew here, with King Witch switching from the full-on muddy despair of “Solitary” and the acoustic dirge of “Ancients” to the beefy guitars on “Hunger” and “Beneath the Waves.” The title track, though, best exemplifies this quartet’s metallic mission—a raucous call-to-arms that defies old-school doom conventions. Although Under the Mountain’s final two songs lack the rest of the album’s hooks, this is a debut worthy of attention. Long live the King Witch.
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