Almost every week, Nic Huber dissects the heavy riffs of bands — new and old — in The Wednesday Sludge. This week's column takes a look at the sole output from one of Philly's newest, super heavy, acts.
Not a lot is known about Philadelphia's Witching.
The relatively new stoner outfit doesn't have much of an online presence except for their Bandcamp, which has been home to their only sonic output since last Friday. The band's first outing, a one-song demo simply called Demo, is about a cathartic release as any.
The first thing that came to my mind was Cough's "Killing Fields," which essentially took the subgenre's bar and shot it into outer space. While Witching's Demois not as masterful as Cough's superb stoner jam, nor does it use feedback as a weapon like Cough has mastered over the years, it is a tremendous first-step.
The demo's only song — "I." — begins with a shoegaze melody that melts into a doomy, sludge, riff that is sure to tickle the hairs of any crust punk. Very Electric Wizard in execution and coupled with droned out clean vocals and shrieking screams, Witching shows great promise as the quintet are definitely one to keep an eye on in the future.
