Witch Fever - Fevereaten (Sony/Music For 
Nations)
Release Date: Out Now
You can tell Witch Fever are an important band because they don't really fall into any of the genre pigeon holes the modern music world loves so much and that's a true sign of individuality and creativity. The band's second album, 'Fevereaten', gets off to a typically intense start with the dark blast of 'Dead To Me!' featuring grinding guitars and the desperate screams of vocalist Amy. 'Final Girl' continues on a dark path but with a winding siren call vibe to the melodies before the guitars come crunching in, propelled by sledge hammer drums. The opening trio of songs is completed by 'The Garden' which has an 80s goth vibe and a cinematic arrangement that would have made it perfect for the Stranger Things soundtrack if the producers had any vision.
'Northstar' clatters in with punk energy before settling into a doom-rock pattern with the bass and drums taking the lead before 'Drank The Sap' brings us a view of an alternative universe where Kate Bush had become the lead singer of the Cure and they had grown up listening to Megadeath and Deftones (the timelines don't work but it's an alternative universe so I get to make up the rules, OK?). Possibly my favourite track on the album is 'Safe' with its blend of atmospheric 80s guitars, urgent drums and general Joy Division vibes - all of which explodes in the chorus into something noisier and more grandiose.
Title track 'Fevereaten' shows the bands evolving sound off perfectly with a blend of atmospheric gloom and ferocious doom while 'Burn To Hit' enters in a squall of distortion like a poltergeist emerging from your TV only to put on the best rock show your living room has ever seen (or any living room for that matter). The bass riff that introduces 'See Ya Next Tuesday' is a thing of throbbing beauty and the Fall-esque vocal yelps nod to the band's Mancunian roots.
The sheer size, scale and ambition of this album is perfectly exemplified on 'Reprise' which feels like the sheet music would have to be carved out of granite to properly communicate the weight of each note and the general timbre. Penultimate track 'Amber' lurches with an ominous purpose and if you can find any other band that is rocking this hard at the moment then I'd genuinely love to hear it - largely just to see if my ears and mind can take it. The album comes to an almighty climax with 'I See It' which starts with some eerie harmonics before erupting like a volcano full of shards of black glass...directly at your face. If you haven't read any of the above and thought 'oh yeah, get me some of that' then this isn't the album for you but if, like me, you have a penchant for revelling in the darker side of things and screaming into the abyss every once in a while then 'Fevereaten' is absolutely what you need in your life right now.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/witchfever