Album Review: Dead Witches – The Final Exorcism (Heavy Psych Sounds Records)

Dead Witches will take you to another world… a world of darkness.

The brainchild of drummer Mark Greening (founding member of Electric Wizard, Ramesses and With The Dead). 2017 for Dead Witches began with the release of their first album, “Ouija”. Featuring original guitarist Greg Elk and vocalist Soozie Chameleone, and Carl Geary on bass.

Dead Witches made their grand return to the stage with a Saturday night appearance at the iconic Desertfest London 2018, introducing new vocalist Soozi Chameleone (Satlan) and guitarist Oliver Irongiant (Grave Lines, Sea Bastard) to the world.

The album will be released on February 22nd 2019 via Heavy Psych Sounds Records.

Playing a trippy and psychedelic style of doom, Dead Witches create a choking atmosphere of smoke and smells with The Final Exorcism. Six tracks (and one intro) are their sermon and there will be few who aren’t feverishly paying attention.

A lot of that is thanks to the excellent vocals of Virginia Monti who can chill with a more monotone style akin to spoken word and thrill when she adds a little more venom. The title track showcases this to perfection as well as delivering a gargantuan level of doomy heaviness.

Goddess of the Night brings out the psychedelic elements resulting in a tripped out style of guitar playing that starts to mess with your head. So much so that we need a moment to recover which When Do the Dead See the Sun gives us. A mellow and very short number.

It’s needed as The Church By the Sea and Lay Demon then take no prisoners with their intense layered doom efforts. The latter in particular is devilishly heavy but pales in comparison to Fear the Priest, a track that delivers fuzziness powerful enough to echo throughout the skull. By time it reaches its end the vocals are almost completely drowned out.

Dead Witches have crafted a magical and twisted record with The Final Exorcism. A record that doesn’t comfort in anyway but rather lays the darkness on so thickly it is near-smothering.

Dead Witches – The Final Exorcism Full Track Listing:

1. There’s Someone There
2. The Final Exorcism
3. Goddess of the Night
4. When Do the Dead See the Sun
5. The Church By the Sea
6. Lay Demon
7. Fear the Priest

The album can be ordered over on Heavy Psych Sounds Records here. Find out more by liking Dead Witches’ Facebook Page and following them on Instagram.