Toulouse, France-based cult doom rollers Witchthroat Serpent have set a March 3 release for their fourth album, Trove of Oddities at the Devil’s Driveway, through foremost purveyor Heavy Psych Sounds. The band made their debut on the label last year as part of HPS‘ Doom Sessions split series, pairing well with Dead Witches for a 12″ vinyl, and the new six-song/41-minute LP follows behind 2018’s Swallow the Venom, which was released through Svart.

Crucially, Trove of Oddities at the Devil’s Driveway is their first outing with second guitarist Djé Cndrs (also of Pillars) alongside founding guitarist/vocalist Fredrik Bolzann (also Deathbell), bassist Ügo Greifengeier (who made his first appearance on the split last year) and founding drummer Niko Lass, and from 10-minute opener and longest track (immediate points) “Multi-Dimensional Marvelous Throne” onward, the march into the abyss is that much more doomed for the added distorted lumber. Taking cues from horror flicks and general anti-everything nod, the now-four-piece stir a cauldron of riffs with the steady hands of masters, their dark arts and atmospheres duly ceremonial to suit their horror-minded themes.

From the weighted stomp in Lass‘ drums that marks every step along the path of the lead track to the languid swirling solos that cut through the clouds of churning molasses smoke, the lead cut sets the tone figuratively and literally, and its side B counterpart, “The House That Dripped Blood” (video premiering below) mirrors many of its methods with perhaps a heavier crash as the lead single.

The video takes clips from the 1971 film of the same name — you’ll see Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Nyree Dawn Porter, etc. — and though it hits arguably the heaviest for following the three-minute noise-laced night-terror interlude that is “The Gorgon,” “The House That Dripped Blood” does well to encapsulate much of what works best throughout this Trove, with a feedback start and foreboding drums that unfold in their own damn time to big, lumbering headpunch of a riff, meaner even than that of the opener or “Nosferatu’s Misery,” which follows.

Some Electric Wizard vibe in the lead guitar feels pushed into dreamier tonality, and a sample marks the way into the verse, duly cavernous and crushing of spirit and heft alike. There’s another solo late, but they cap with feedback before the faster, crashier “Yellow Nacre” and the likewise woeful and woefully catchy “Mountain Temple in Bleakness” round out side B, the latter giving the bass a well deserved moment in the limelight en route to its own feedback-bedded excruciation of a finish, organ and vague vocals underscoring the otherworldly-then-gone nature of the drawdown.

You like heavy? Shit, here’s some Heavy. I guess this was supposed to be the album announcement and I kind of just reviewed it, but whatever. Brave new world, and you’ll be ready when this thing lands in March. If you’re the type to take care of things ahead of time, you know Heavy Psych Sounds has preorders ready.

Those links, some comment from the band, and more info follow the video premiere below, courtesy of the PR wire.

Enjoy:

Witchthroat Serpent, “The House That Dripped Blood” video premiere

Witchthroat Serpent on “The House That Dripped Blood”:

The House That Dripped Blood is a song about the 1971 British anthology horror film directed by Peter Duffell. Made up of four stories about Vampires, Voodoo, Vixens and Victims! Also the cover of the album was inspired by this movie…

You can hear the voice of Nyree Dawn Porter and Christopher Lee at the beginning of the song.

THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD is the first single taken from WITCHTHROAT SERPENT upcoming new album “Trove of Oddities at the Devil’s Driveway”.

The release will see the light March 3rd via Heavy Psych Sounds.

ALBUM PRESALE:
https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop.htm

USA PRESALE:
https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop-usa.htm

TRACKLIST
1. Multi-dimensional Marvelous Throne
2. Nosferatu’s Mastery
3. The Gorgon
4. The House That Dripped Blood
5. Yellow Nacre
6. Mountain Temple In Bleakness

Witchthroat Serpent are:
Fredrik Bolzann – guitar/vocals
Niko Lass – drums
Ügo Greifengeier – bass
Djé Cndrs – guitar

Witchthroat Serpent on Facebook

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Witchthroat Serpent on Bandcamp

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Tags: France, Heavy Psych Sounds, Toulouse, Trove of Oddities at the Devil's Driveway, Witchthroat Serpent, Witchthroat Serpent Trove of Oddities at the Devil's Driveway

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 7th, 2022 at 9:16 am and is filed under audiObelisk, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.