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Witch

MusicBlog

Location: Brattleboro

Website: http://www.teepeerecords.com/bands/witch/

Bio: Witch is no "indie metal super-group" or side project. To prescribe such journalistic stigmas would be to underestimate the commitment of Witch's members. After their ... (more) self-titled debut in 2006, Witch returned to the studio to work on their sophomore album, "Paralyzed". The new album, to be released this spring on Tee Pee Records, remains true to the classic heavy rock sound of the first, but has evolved as the band has learned to play to each other's strengths.

The Vermont based band's new songs highlight the rhythm section of Dave Sweetapple (bass) and J Mascis (drums) who return to their punk roots and attack with a more aggressive tempo. This foundation allows Kyle Thomas (guitar/vocals) to construct wailing vertical melodies of guitar and sinister vocals. Witch has turned out a record that burns with hostility, like the track, Mutated, but also smolders with intensity, like the track Sweet Sue.

The collective deviating influences of the group have more presence on this record than the last; experimentation in studio with different tonal effects to obtain a more diverse sound are evidenced in the guitar play of Kyle Thomas over the roaring backbeats provided by Sweetapple and Mascis. It is the time that the band spends not being a band that seems to have allowed their sound to grow. Kyle points out that the band "does not practice and barely ever play shows". This has allowed the chemistry and music to grow organically and a bit more spontaneously. Live, the music morphs into a beast of its own instead of sounding like a CD on playback.

J Mascis mans the kit with a punk like fervor this time around; according to Mascis "I know I'm not the only one who thinks 28" is the right size bass drum." Kyle decided to adapt his songwriting approach to J's drum playing. Kyle explained how some of the more punk songs came about, "J plays drums with a lot of energy, so I decided that instead of writing slow songs and having them speed up when we play them live, I should just write faster songs." At the heart of the album is still the heaviness that dominated the last record, this time though Witch is creating a style more their own. The exciting part Kyle feels for the band and fans is that "they are still developing a sound that fully hasn't shown itself."

To lay down the initial foundation of the album the band headed out to J's Bisquiteen Studio in Amherst, MA, final mixing would occur here as well. The bulk of recording was done at Bank Row Studio in Greenfield, MA, with Justin Pizzoferrato, who engineered and co-produced the album with Witch.
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