Review Summary: The power of Wytch Hazel compels you!
Since 2016 and their debut, Wytch Hazel have quickly ascended the ranks of underground rock, and for good reason. Their brand of hard rock that brings together twin-guitar wizards Wishbone Ash and Thin Lizzy, Pagan Altar, folk, and Early Music, is as catchy as it is epic. In fact, these guys’ ability to produce so melodic hard rock with a strong epic flavor, always made me feel like they’re the British version of the painfully underrated US act Ashbury.
For those of you who haven’t been acquainted with Wytch Hazel yet, one important aspect of their music is the use of Christian lyrics from the Bible. Now, you may feel that a line like “Rise up and fight we will sing. We serve a mightier King” is cringeworthy, and, in all honesty, you’re right. However, you can easily find even more embarrassing lyrics written by skinny pale boys in corpse pain who run around in forests, or macho dudes with full beards and bad boy tattoos. So, don’t let this deter you from checking out these guys. Plus, there are instances where a chorus, such as the one on “Archangel”, might be so Ghost-like infectious, that sounds like you’re in church singing gospels, albeit wearing a cloak and a rope belt. How cool is that?
Further proof of how well these guys integrate the Christian thing into their music, is that, even if you’re unaware of the subject matter, you will pick up some spiritual vibes. This is probably due to the use of a medieval harmonic technique and their vocal harmonies. It also seems that Colin Hendra has worked on his voice, and now sounds less Terry Jones-esque. However, the main takeaway here is the solid songwriting and the impressive guitar work, with “Dry Bones”, for example, grabbing you from the start with its dual guitar melody. That being said, better work could have been done in the solos department.
In terms of production,
III:Pentecost sounds more crispy and dynamic than
II: Sojourn, and less fuzzy and more professional than
Prelude, even though I love how Wytch Hazel’s debut sounds. The audible bass on “Archangel” will make ‘70s prog freak smile with contentment.
At the end of the day, Wytch Hazel have knocked the curse of the third album out of the park – a curse known to only a few select men, probably because it’s bull*** – and released something that puts them at the top of vintage rock for this year with Hallas. On
III:Pentecost, they seem to have really refined their sound. So, the question now is: where do they go from here? I’d love to see them write some keyboard-oriented songs, as the keyboard parts on this LP are very well-done and they seem to be able to pull something like that off. Until then, we can only wonder.
