WITCHSORROW

My journey into doom metal and heavy rock began in the mid-1970s, ridingaround Freeport, Illinois, in my uncle’s car with BLACK SABBATH blasting through the speakers. I was still in elementary school, but those early experiences planted the seed.

It wasn’t until the mid-1980s, though, when I picked up “We Sold Our Soul for Rock n Roll”, that everything truly clicked. Hearing ”The Wizard” for the first time completely rearranged my musical worldview.

From there came TROUBLE’s “Psalm 9”, followed by SAINT VITUS “Born Too Late”. In early August 1987, I saw SAINT VITUS live at O’Cayz Corral in Madison, Wisconsin. That night changed everything for me in terms of how I experience heavy music today.

Listening to WITCHSORROW’s latest album, “The Devil And All His Works”, brought all of those memories rushing back. This is a crushing, unapologetically heavy record that delivers everything you could want from a modern doom metal release.

Formed in 2006 around the core partnership of Necroskull (vocals, guitar) and Emily Witch (bass), WITCHSORROW has steadily become a force to be reckoned with. If you’re unfamiliar with the band, do yourself a favor and explore their discography.

This is doom metal steeped in a distinctly English tradition yet delivered with the force of an out-of-control wrecking ball. Calling it “heavy” almost feels inadequate. “The Devil And All His Works” is massive, immersive, and absolutely devastating in all the right ways. It was a huge pleasure to speak to the husband and wife team behind the band, Necroskull and Emily Witch…

WORMWOOD CHRONICLES: I’m curious about the lyrical component of the new record, “The Devil And All His Works”. Does the band write together or is it one person?

NECROSKULL: Lyrically, it’s all me. Emily Witch is a magpie for words and phrases and things that she sees or hears, she has a notebook full of that. That’s good for titles, or getting inspiration, but as far as the full lyrics go, that’s my burden. I’m not a songwriter who’s constantly getting things down and there’s books and books of lyrics and poems to go through to put to music. It’s always once the rest of the song is done and it can’t be put off any longer. Then my brain goes wherever it goes. 

This time there were a lot of themes that kept popping up that I felt were going to come out. A big one was impermanence and the idea of nothing ever being its final form, time passing, how things go from meaning everything to nothing, how the most important thing in the world to someone doesn’t leave the smallest dent to anyone else. 

There’s a lot of dark things like death and grief, which sort of ties into that. There’s thoughts on avarice and how there’s always a price that people are too stupid to remember. 

But there is some light for a change. “Bacchus” is about when you just need sin and indulgence. Normally that sort of song comes with a sting in the tail. But this time it’s all just the joy of it. Then “In Triumph We Rot!!!” is just about the pride of being a doom devotee. It’s a celebration!

WC: And how long did it take to write and put music to the songs that appear on this epic LP?

EMILY WITCH: The first ideas began in early 2020, with Nick messing around with some riffs in the first lockdown. I struggled with music in the pandemic. For me, my favourite part of being in a band is playing live and with no prospect of that on the horizon, I didn’t actually want to pick up my guitar for months. Once restrictions lifted we just wanted to get out gigging again, and that was the priority for some time. We’re very bad at writing and gigging at the same time – it’s either one thing or the other and we need to take a break from playing live in order to concentrate on writing. During this time we also took some time out as Wilbrahammer was starting a family so the whole thing took a lot longer than we would have liked. 

N: Yeah I wrote the first riffs in spring 2020, but as Emily Witch says, it was a pretty slow thing to get focused because of gigs and things. But the good thing about it, in hindsight, was a lot of time percolating and whittling. You could come back to something a year later and make a change that totally finished the song.

WC: How many lyrical iterations of a song do you typically go through before the final lyrics emerge and speak to you?

N: The need to write them has to be right upon me, so they come right at the end of writing a song. Some of them don’t get properly done until we’re in the studio because I just keep drawing blanks before that. But when they come, I’ll manage to get it all out in, like, 15 minutes. Once I’ve got that, I’ll change something every time I look at it, a word, the chorus, something new I’ve thought of that I need to get in there somehow. There were even a couple of moments when I was in the booth at the studio with Chris Fielding recording, where I’d be going ‘Wait a minute, I need to change this word’ or something. I find lyrics really difficult, partly because I’m not a huge fan of being the singer, but mainly because it’s so clear what’s being said. I feel pretty under the spotlight, which is partly why there’s such definite, doomy language in there. I’m hiding behind the doom, in a way, haha. But that’s also the ultimate language with which to narrate this music!

WC: I noticed something interesting on “The Devil And All His Works” and I may be wrong here, but I do hear a small influence of THE MELVINS on it, especially on track three “Hades Chains?” 

N: I do dig THE MELVINS, but if that’s there it’s a subconscious thing. That riff is actually Emily Witch’s, and I think she was going for a straight-four, all downstrokes, KILLING JOKE-type rhythm, or like the chuggy riff from “Black Shapes Of Doom” by TROUBLE. As we’ve played it and it’s come alive and stuff, it reminds me a bit of “The Saw Is The Law” by SODOM! I realised the chorus is kind of a METALLICA rip-off as well. 

WC: Any chance of WITCHSORROW coming to the U.S. to tour any time soon?

EW: It’s definitely been on the bucket list for a while! Things seem so dystopian there at the moment perhaps now is our time …!

WC: Was there a definitive moment for everyone in the band when you knew that doom metal was the musical path you’d take? Was it a record you bought, a concert you attended, etc?

N: For me personally, I wanted to be in a doomy band since I was a teenager. I was into metal and rock music from when I was really young, so I was already into METALLICA, MAIDEN, NIRVANA, stuff like that, and just grew up devouring absolutely everything with a guitar in it. When I discovered CATHEDRAL, I was just sucked in straight away because all the talk of the psychedelic stuff, along with the SABBATH worship, and all their horror movie references and stuff just grabbed my brain. And it was like lifting up a rock and finding loads of stuff underneath. It was the late ‘90s, so SABBATH were coming back, and doom and stoner stuff was having a bit of a moment. I really clearly remember going down to the record shop when I was 15 and finding a load of stuff by CATHEDRAL, ELECTRIC WIZARD, SABBATH, FU MANCHU, ORANGE GOBLIN, MONSTER MAGNET for a fiver. Bands like ACRIMONY and SALLY and SHEAVY were around then as well. I was way too young to see any of them, but that just sent my imagination into overdrive. Not being able to get hold of records by TROUBLE, PENTAGRAM, VITUS etc very easily at the time just made them more appealing and mystical.

Anyway, I've wanted a band like that from when I was 15. I wanted a Gibson SG and a big amp, and to play Sabbathy stuff. I was obsessed with “Come My Fanatics” and “The Ethereal Mirror”, just wondering how they managed to come up with that stuff. Same again a couple of years later when “In The Rectory Of The Bizarre Reverend” came out and I instantly became obsessed with it.

Emily Witch and I saw ELECTRIC WIZARD in 2002 when we were 18, on the “Let Us Pray” tour. They were killer, although they kept arguing and storming offstage. I was so out of it I didn’t spot someone had thrown up down my back. 

WC: I’d like to know how Emily and Necroskull met and at what moment did both of you decide to start a band, and was it always going to be a doom metal band?

EW:  How we got together is not a very heavy metal story – we met at school! At that point I was getting into rock music but Necroskull quickly indoctrinated me into the heavier side of things. We kind of discovered doom and stoner together, mainly through magazines and their free CDs with bands like ELECTRIC WIZARD, ORANGE GOBLIN, CATHEDRAL, FU MANCHU, IRON MONKEY … Nick actually blew up the speakers on my Dad’s old stereo playing “Come My Fanatics”! We went to gigs and festivals and hung out with other fans and gradually went deeper into the scene.

Nick had a few bands as we grew up but I was never part of them, I tagged along at gigs which I always enjoyed, and started learning bass, but I wasn’t quite ready to join a band for a bit. Then in around 2005 he started talking about forming a doom band, which I think is something he always wanted to do. The way he tells it, I basically insisted that I would play bass in the band, but I’ll let him tell his side of the story…!

WC: You've had the opportunity to perform with doom metal icons like ELECTRIC WIZARD and SAINT VITUS. Have any of those encounters developed into long-term friendships? And is there any advice you've received from those bands that has stuck with you over the years or influenced the way you approach music?

EW:  Not wanting to ruin their reputation as badasses, but ELECTRIC WIZARD have always been very kind to us. It’s a bit mind-blowing really. We’ve been to their house before which is as exactly as weird and wonderful as you hope it would be! I believe Necroskull is still in touch with Jus from time to time who offers his unique brand of advice!

N: Last album he told me that my guitar doesn’t sound as nasty as it does live. He said at gigs it sounds like a doom version of Euronymous, which is a pretty cool compliment! 

WC: Doom metal has always had a relationship with the past. How do you honor the traditions of BLACK SABBATH, SAINT VITUS, and CANDLEMASS without becoming a nostalgia act or becoming cut and paste versions of them?

N: I’m not talented enough to manage a straight-up rip-off of these bands! I suppose that’s all to the good, because we’ve sort of got a thing of our own. For Emily and I, it’s always been really important to be a metal band with it. All the bands who we’d list as our main influences are all metal-metal: CATHEDRAL, CANDLEMASS, WIZARD, PROCESSION, REVEREND BIZARRE, SOLITUDE AETURNUS, VITUS. We just can’t help that, anyway. Whatever we try to do always ends up having that metal mania to it just because of what we naturally go to when we’re playing. 

WC: Your records feel deeply rooted in British culture and atmosphere. How much does growing up in England shape the band's sound and lyrical themes?

EW:  I always think it’s kind of weird having desert rock bands that don’t originate from hot countries! I’m not sure I could ever create the right atmosphere without that being my direct environment. I think the British climate and backdrop where we live really lends itself to a particular brand of doom – dark, slow, autumnal, melancholy but with a hard edge born of the concrete and decay of the city.

N: I just think that’s part of the doom language I learned from listening to people like Lee Dorrian and Jus Oborn and Geezer Butler. Near where Emily Witch and I live it gets very chocolate box English village, lots of old churches and thatched roofs and old pubs and stuff. Loads of villages in rural England still have stocks and things as well, so it’s not that hard to draw a link between all that and doom. I think part of it might be a longing for it, getting away from busy plastic towns and shopping centres and all that shit. 

WC: Doom metal often explores darkness, despair, and the occult. Do you see these themes as metaphorical, spiritual, philosophical, or simply storytelling devices

N: Everything I write is pretty caked in metaphor. That’s partly down to not wanting to give too much of anything real away, but also because I just like that language and those words and vibes. But there are some things which are definitely more occult and have a certain feeling of power about them. 

WC: What is the biggest misconception people have about doom metal as a genre?

N: That meme idea that it’s one note for 30 minutes. Like, yes, cool, I love that, but I think people often forget how much of it is heavy metal. I think sometimes that surprises people about us, that it’s not some drone thing, it’s total metal mania! People have called us party-doom before, which I kind of wince at, but I get it. 

WC: You've remained committed to traditional doom while many bands have incorporated stoner, sludge, post-metal, or psychedelic elements. Was that a conscious decision from the beginning?

EW: I wouldn’t say we don’t touch on those elements at all, we have a broad taste and I think that does have an influence on our music. When you think about doom though, there is quite a broad range even within the more traditional bands – for example CANDLEMASS, SAINT VITUS, CATHEDRAL, TROUBLE – they’re actually all quite different in style and approach but they still fit under the doom banner. However I think maybe we just have a knack of putting those elements through the WITCHSORROW ‘filter’ so they feel just a natural part of our sound. 

N: Yeah. The weft and way of us playing something just forces it into a WITCHSORROW-shaped hole in the end. We definitely like all those sounds, and tons of other music that’s nothing to do with metal or doom whatsoever, but I think as far as playing goes we’ve just never wanted to try anything else. As Emily Witch says, we touch a little bit on some things, and when we’re writing we’ll go ‘Oh, the NEUROSIS bit’ or whatever, but really we just don’t have that explorer’s instinct that some bands do. There’s nothing wrong with it, but it genuinely just doesn’t cross our mind to expand in that way. 

WC: If you could go back in time and watch one legendary doom metal recording session, what album would it be and why?

EW: The “Dopethrone” sessions are pretty legendary. I’m not sure I’d want to be there in person as it sounds like it was a pretty toxic situation but it produced such a suffocating and chaotic atmosphere on the final album I think it had to be like that. Being a fly on the wall to see how it all fed into the end result would be fascinating.

N: Perhaps “Forest Of Equilibrium”, just because I’d love to have experienced recording as a metal band at that time, and that’s one of the best albums ever made, so who better? For absolute craziness, being around VITUS when they were doing “Born Too Late” or something would have been interesting, as would WIZARD doing “Dopethrone” or “Come My Fanatics”, setting fire to police cars and falling off church roofs and stuff!

WC: Many musicians talk about writing songs. Doom musicians often talk about creating atmosphere. Which comes first for WITCHSORROW—the riff, the mood, or the story?

EW: I don’t think it’s something to consciously choose between – everything feeds in and layers on to come together in the final song. Most often it starts with a riff, but with that we are always thinking about the mood we want to create. That then evolves as we play together as a band, add on the lyrics and it takes on a life of its own. 

WC: Imagine a young fan discovering WITCHSORROW today and decides to explore doom metal. What five albums would you tell them to hear before anything else?

Emily Witch:

BLACK SABBATH – “Black Sabbath”, where it all began

CANDLEMASS – “Epicus Doomicus Metallicus”, the perfect example of doom METAL

TROUBLE – “Psalm 9”, the most epic riffs

SAINT VITUS – “Born too Late”, brutally raw

ELECTRIC WIZARD – “Come My Fanatics”, where my own Wizard journey began

Necroskull: 

What Emily said, plus…

CATHEDRAL – “Forest Of Equilibrium” – Up there with SABBATH as like saying you’re into sunlight or breathing oxygen for this kind of music

REVEREND BIZARRE – “In The Rectory Of The Bizarre Reverend” – the greatest doom worship ever

SOLITUDE AETURNUS – “Into The Depths Of Sorrow” – Like with CANDLEMASS, the absolutely perfect expression of doom METAL

PROCESSION – “Burn” EP – one of my favourite bands. When this came out I felt like I did when I heard REVEREND BIZARRE or CANDLEMASS for the first time

PENTAGRAM – “Relentless” – obviously completely essential. What riffs. What lyrics. What absolute horror!

To the members of WITCHSORROW – Thank you for answering these questions!

BOTH: Thank you so much for the interview and the support!

WITCHSORROW