LEVITATION EDITION Exclusive Vinyl PressingÂ
150 copies on 'Spirit' Smash + Splatter VinylÂ
More than 20 years after their debut, Witchcraftâs seventh album, âIDAG,â is an awaited full accounting of who they are as a band. Those who have clamored for the return to an earlier sound rooted in â70s classic progressive and heavy rock will delight to the strut of âIrreligious Flamboyant Flameâ while the eight-minute opening title-track is the heaviest the band have ever sounded, and a succession of interspersed acoustic-based pieces helps create a vision of a new, soulfully folkish doom taking shape as they continue to move inexorably forward.
Founding guitarist/vocalist, Magnus Pelander, says of âIDAGâ: âThis album will reap souls and destroy wicked minds. And perhaps mend a couple of broken ones.â
These enigmatic few words from the Swedish bandâs main songwriter give clues as to the songsâ intentions; a reference dropped to Covenâs 1969 album, âWitchcraft Destroys Minds and Reaps Souls.â Coven also had a folkish, proto-doomed take at that point in their history, and that multifaceted nature has been a part of Witchcraft all along. On one level, Magnus is winkingly telling you itâs a Witchcraft record. The actual meaning of that becomes clear when you hear the album and find out just how much âa Witchcraft recordâ can encompass.
The storyline of Witchcraftâs growth, from Pelanderâs starting the band in Ărebro in 2000 in the wake of his prior outfit Norrskenâs disbanding. A generational landmark of a 2004 self-titled debut helped spark a retroist movement that has become its own subgenre, but Witchcraft never stopped growing. 2005âs âFirewoodâ and 2007âs âThe Alchemistâ introduced more progressive sounds, and five years later, the pointedly modern âLegendâ established in 2012 that they had moved beyond the analog worship they had been a part of pioneering within the contemporary heavy rock and doom scene.
In 2016, the 2LP âNucleusâ introduced fuller-toned doom, and 2020âs âBlack Metalâ diverged into moody acoustic minimalism familiar to some fans from Pelanderâs early solo work, but different from anything Witchcraft had done prior. âIDAG,â then, is the tie that draws all of this â more than two decades of exploring and growth â together. Whatever theyâve done in the past and whatever theyâll do in the future, âIDAGâ feels like a nexus for defining who and what Witchcraft are. Even crazier, that might be the point of the thing. JJ Koczan
TRACKLISTING
SIDE A
Idag
DroÌmmar av is
DroÌmmen om doÌd och foÌrruttnelse
Om du vill
GlaÌntanÂ
SIDE B
Burning CrossÂ
Irreligious Flamboyant FlameÂ
ChristmasÂ
SpiritÂ
Om du vill (Slight Return)Â
Please note:
Due to the nature of making a vinyl record, each record is one of a kind. The vinyl you receive may look different from our photo. Colored vinyl is more prone to surface noise and imperfections.
Pre-order fulfillment can be affected by label manufacturing issues. On the rare occasion we do not receive the stock we have ordered and cannot fulfill an order, you will be refunded for the item.Â
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