Witchcraft - Nucleus

Witchcraft
Nucleus
(2x Black Vinyl)
Release: 2021

Track Listing:

1. Malstroem
2. Theory Of Consequence
3. The Outcast
4. Nucleus
5. An Exorcism Of Doubts
6. The Obsessed
7. To Transcend Bitterness
8. Helpless
9. Breakdown
10. Chasing Rainbows
    

More Info:
Nucleus marked a drastic sonic pivot for Swedish heavy rockers Witchcraft, stripping away the polished, radio ready retro hard rock hooks of 2012's Legend in favor of cavernous, slow burning gloom. Rebuilt around mastermind Magnus Pelander and an overhauled rhythm section, the record plunges into sprawling, melancholic doom metal steeped in 1970s progressive rock and dark psychedelia. The songs are vast, epics characterized by downtuned, lumbering riffs, sparse acoustic interludes, mournful flute accents, and crushing swells of fuzz that evoke vintage Pentagram, Saint Vitus, and mid-era Opeth. Pelander’s vocals take center stage with raw, unvarnished emotion, shifting between weary, cracked folk croons and strained, howling despair. Longform centerpieces like "The Outcast," the 14-minute title track, and the 15-minute closing opus "Breakdown" give the album an ancient, ritualistic weight, sounding like a bleak, hypnotic descent through heavy subterranean riffs, isolation, and psychological unrest.