Female-fronted doom bands are an extinct entity today; I’m sure if you give it enough time a million of them will pop up and water the playing field like that Arch Enemy chick did, but for now we have Castle from the Bay Area with a really strong appeal to fans of legendary Coven, only with a much harder edge.

Punchy, driving and focused, Castle’s In Witch Order is precisely what Coven would sound like today had the eras been summarily reversed some 40-years. Some very serious music is to be had here in the vein of this revamped, intoxicating doom sound; what might have been an innovative conceptual brand back in the days of late Blue Cheer or new Black Sabbath has been both challenged and surpassed on many levels.

In Witch Order finds an eerily sadistic sounding disciple of Jinx Dawson, intentional or not, in Elizabeth Blackwell, who does at times sound like a wickedly seductive minx that can just as soon demolish your senses with her bass work as she can with her vocal prowess. Without having to rely on some boring or repetitive riff looped over a derivative drum pattern, Castle encompasses all of the stylish nuances necessary for a doom metal album without pausing for typicality or humdrum banality. This trio knows exactly what to do to produce quality music and every note of this album shows it. The vocals are a ghastly presence over the music, which is very hard to attain to such a degree as they often come off as composite screeching or unintentional parody. Granted Blackwell doesn’t embellish her performance because she doesn’t need to, but her delivery with a  distinctly female voice is a welcome change with all of the Gossow-growling disciples further polluting the pool with ridiculously overdone vocals. When a person, male or female, can actually  sing I almost don’t know what to do with the band, I’m usually so taken aback.

While there isn’t a 60’s/70’s vibe here that makes up the totality of the album, there is certainly a Fuzzy and warm feel to the tracks. This is especially evident in “Sleeping Giant”, which moves like a tempestuously thick fog through your ears as it settles into the corners of your skull. When “Devil’s Castle” speeds up your blood flow you finally realize just how great this album is; I also  love the fact that Blackwell uses distortion on her bass to achieve that ringing tone that sets the feel perfectly for this type of metal. The band is tight and overly capable of adding its name to a long and often muddy list of doom bands popping up from every damn corner of the globe. At least we in the States have another champion to be proud of in the larger picture. This album has  absolute moments of ghostly ambience; one listen to “Slaves of the Pharao” will dispel any notions that this statement is invalid or obligatory.

TRACK LISTING

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*Comments:

1.  Descent of Man
2.  Fire in the Sky
3.  Slaves of the Pharao
4.  Knife in the Temple
5.  Total Betrayal
6.  Spellbinder
7.  Lost Queen
8.  Shaman Wars
9.  Sleeping Giant
10.  Butcher of Los Angeles
11.  Devils Castle

Total playing time:  44:47

Release Date: May 6, 2011
Label: Ván Records

Castle - In Witch Order

Reviewer: Chris

June 15, 2011