Review Summary: A retro doom course correction turned pleasant surprise
As if directly reassuring us that a repeat of 2020’s Black Metal would never happen, Idag sees Witchcraft back in full doom mode. The album picks up from 2016’s Nucleus in terms of crushing riffs amidst a dark occult atmosphere and the forty-minute length is right in line with the first three efforts in the mid-2000s. It plays like a summary of what the Swedes have accomplished thus far without feeling too safe and little elements like half the songs being sung in their native tongue keep that quirky flavor.
The opening title track and “Spirit” are the most purposeful tracks; the former is particularly bold with its eight minutes encompassing slowly fluctuating riffs boasted by a watery guitar tone and a proggy break while the latter is a depressive lapse that almost dips into Warning territory with glacial drums and forlorn vocals. The songs in between are much more off-the-cuff in comparison; “Drömmar Av Is” and “Drömmen Om Död Och Förruttnelse” are solid stomping rockers while “Burning Cross” and “Irreligious Flamboyant Flame” put in some bass-heavy swinging sets.
It’s also nice to see the band not fully abandon their softer side. This is mostly achieved through a couple sparse acoustic bursts and “Om Du Vill” serving as a light jaunt. “Christmas” is the most like the Black Metal material with its mopey reflections and appropriately cold strums; I can’t tell if the context is set up properly or just better writing, but it does end up being much more effective in comparison.
While Witchcraft’s seventh album was likely always going to have a sense of course correction to it, the result still end up being a pleasant surprise. It may be their most balanced effort since 2012’s Legend in some regards, feeling truer to their retro doom roots than they have in a while but still finding ways to make it feel fresh. Whether this ends up being the new way forward or the palette cleanse before the next experiment, it’s great to see the band still feeling vital.
