Acid Witch
Witchtanic Hellucinations


2.0
poor

Review

by noisymugwump USER (30 Reviews)
August 14th, 2009 | 146 replies


Release Date: 2008 | Tracklist

Review Summary: A very weak and unimpressive attempt at classic death/doom from a bunch of cornball melonheads. Stay away from this one.

Acid Witch are a modern doom metal group with members hailing from Finland and the US. The general idea of the band is to bring back simplistic death/doom with classic doom touches. They also attempt to resurrect the horror/occult based themes of bands past, which in their case takes the form of cartoon witches, goofy humour and the kind of B-movie aesthetic one should expect from a band affiliated with the goofballs at Razorback Records. As ambitious as an attempted revival of gritty, filthy old school death/doom may be, the poor fellas in Acid Witch miss their mark completely on "Witchtanic Hellucinations" (the album title, cover and track titles should give fair warning as to how bad it is). They produce some wretchedly cheesy, weak, juvenile crap that's better suited for "horror metal" kiddies who dig stuff like Frightmare and Blood Freak than fans of the death/doom of olde.

The production here is thin, weak, and overly digital, sounding like it was recorded on some guy's computer. This results in the music having little to no thickness or fullness, and none of the mucky and murky filth they seem to promise with imagery of caves and dank, disgusting places inhabited by fat ugly witches. Instead we get a weak ass guitar tone with riffs that sound more like a teenage kid ***ing around with power chords and palm mutes than thought out songs. What we need here is filthy, pounding, bone chilling, blood-curdling insanity and they give us something that sounds like it's out of a high school talent show. The bass is equally unimpressive, adding little to nothing to the heaviness of the rhythm, barely diverging from the guitar riffs (which wouldn't be so bad if they didn't suck) and never bringing anything remotely interesting to the table. The drums don't particularly shine either, adding to the annoyance and mediocrity of the sound. The vocals are yet another letdown, essentially consisting of guttural burps and weak attempted growls (where there should be puke drenched screams and sickening rasps). The delay and reverb on the vocals, while a good idea is just another attempt to create an atmosphere they're incapable of creating. Admittedly at a few points on the album they briefly hit their stride with a thick chord ringing out, but it's quickly stifled by the piss-poor songwriting and dinky moronic riffs that follow. I also salute their attempt at infusing occult-themed Italian prog-like synths and classic doom metal type riffs into their sound, but this also falls flat and really fails to provide any atmosphere to this rinky dink internet band.

Acid Witch at first seemed to have the potential to be a good or at least amusing band, but one shouldn't go to the assorted dingbats at Razorback Records for their doom metal. They sound like little more than a bedroom project slapped together by poor, immature musicians that set the bar much much higher than they could ever attain. Fans of modern "horror metal" bands will at least have a chuckle at these guys, as they're so gimmicky and weak they won't likely attract much else. Everyone else should recognize them for the piss-poor musicians they are, and doom metal fans should likely be insulted at their childish tomfoolery. Death/doom is best left in the past. Attempts at revivals of classic genres are most often disastrous, and when you get two wingnuts in Halloween masks trying it you know it's gonna suck. Keep away from this steaming turd if you know what's good for ya.



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user ratings (102)
3.3
great
other reviews of this album
Gorification (4)
A fun record with charm and atmosphere....



Comments:Add a Comment 
noisymugwump
August 14th 2009


103 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

Been a little while since I wrote a review, and this is officially my first negative one. Wonder if anyone'll defend it.

XNoMercyX
August 15th 2009


121 Comments

Album Rating: 1.5

This album is pretty horrid, I only like the song Rabid Werewitch

rasputin
August 15th 2009


14968 Comments


Yeah this album is pretty shitty. I'm sure cam will defend it though! Sweet review.

illmitch
August 15th 2009


5511 Comments


cornball melonheads


rinky dink internet band


assorted dingbats at Razorback Records


this is why noisymugwump fucking rules. great review, i'll steer clear of this

rasputin
August 15th 2009


14968 Comments


going over the review, I just wanted to mention:

Death/doom is best left in the past. Attempts at revivals of classic genres are most often disastrous,


this is true, but not necessarily!

noisymugwump
August 15th 2009


103 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

I agree.

Hawks
August 15th 2009


93817 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Even though I'm sure this album does suck, that album art is fucking sick lol.

rasputin
August 15th 2009


14968 Comments


nah the art is just lame tbh, i don't like anything about this album/band and their sound

Buccaneer
January 15th 2010


747 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

I'm tempted to check this out, as a lot of people are praising it outside of sputnik, but this review makes a convincing case that it's actually terrible.



The few songs that i've checked out were pretty bad though

brutebeard
April 5th 2010


1655 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

You really tore this apart. I enjoyed the dirty sound and chuckled at the horror theme to say the least

Brew
April 28th 2010


24 Comments


Its really not that bad.

ShadowRemains
May 10th 2010


28060 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

my friend asked me to download these guys for him, so I did, then I listened myself afterwards and was not impressed...

Dryden
May 10th 2010


13585 Comments


havnt heard this but dont plan to anytime soon

ShadowRemains
May 10th 2010


28060 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

don't waste your time...or your computer's memory...

Gorification
July 8th 2010


1124 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

i actually liked this album. its a fun listen, "fun" not usually being a word you would use to describe death/doom metal. i feel like they pulled it off. it feels like im watching a corny, gory horror movie on acid (what a surprise). they keep it fresh by adding some psychedelic influences, some old-school rock type riffs, and in the beginning of some songs, keyboards that make me think of some demonic ritual being preformed on halloween. yeah, its cheesy, but its supposed to be, and i enjoyed that too.

Hawks
September 13th 2010


93817 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

I like this album too. Like Gorification said, it's supposed to be cheesy. I'm a sucker for Halloween type stuff like this. I love all that kind of stuff so the concept is very interesting to me.

brutebeard
September 13th 2010


1655 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

it is very rad. Don't listen to the elitists

Hawks
September 13th 2010


93817 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Yeah I mean I think it's pretty awesome. It can get kinda repetitive, but overall I really like it.

brutebeard
September 13th 2010


1655 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

word. it's so over the top, its funny yet still brutal

ffs
September 13th 2010


6331 Comments


i had a witchtanic hellucination the other day, it changed my life



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