Listen To A Brand New Bell Witch Song

Published: March 26, 2015

Bell Witch

Crushing doom duo Bell Witch are due to release their highly anticipated new album ‘Four Phantoms’ via Profound Lore next month, so Terrorizer got in touch with bassist/vocalist Dylan Desmond to talk about how the concept of ghosts has inspired the new record, the benefits of playing as a two-piece and Dylan’s recent departure from Samothrace. Oh, and we’ve also got a stream of their new song ‘Judgement, In Fire I – Garden (Of Blooming Ash)’ too…

To prove the incredible force of a finely honed rhythm section, one need only glance at the growing number of great power duos who’ve managed to blow minds using nothing more than a bass guitar and a drum kit, from Lightning Bolt to Om, Bismuth to Ghold and all points in between.

Even amongst two-pieces though, Bell Witch still stand out. Playing evocative, funereally paced doom more in line with Asunder or Mournful Congregation, bassist Dylan Desmond uses a full six strings to convey both huge riffs and sombre leads, whilst complemented beautifully by his own haunting chants and drummer Adrian Guerra’s cavernous baritone roar – and it’s a combination that happened seemingly by accident.

“Adrian and I met when an old band of his played with an old band of mine,” says Dylan. “Years later, I moved to Seattle with a band that needed a drummer, and he immediately joined in. Sometime later, the guitarist from that band moved away and Adrian and I were left as just a rhythm section. A friend asked us to play a show, to which we explained we were unable to do without a guitarist. She said ‘just do it without the guitarist!’ We threw together what would become ‘I Wait’ and ‘Rows’ from [2012 debut album] ‘Longing’ and played a show. It worked out better than we thought, so we kept going with it.”

“In my opinion, the song writing process between two people is much easier than between five, or even three,” he elaborates. “The two of us spend a lot of time discussing music we like, and we dissect it for the artistic values/elements we both appreciate and dislike in it. I think this helps us strengthen our own musical direction, which is something that can be quite difficult between a larger group of individuals.”

Even so, the writing process is never easy. We may have had to wait three long years for a follow-up to their 2012 debut ‘Longing’, but the pair’s second album ‘Four Phantoms’ was certainly worth holding on for.

“‘Four Phantoms’, like everything we write, is written from the perspectives of ghosts,” explains Dylan. “The idea of a ghost, I believe, is fashioned in our own imagination to represent something of our own lives. ‘Four Phantoms’ is technically two songs with two movements each, making four tracks. These are fashioned around the four elements, earth, fire, water, and air, with each particular ghost’s fixation pertaining to its specific element. Thus, four phantoms. For example, the opening track, ‘Suffocation, A Burial 1: Awoken (Breathing Teeth)’ is from the perspective of a ghost eternally trying to escape it’s grave underground. Both musically and lyrically we tried to write the song with the feeling of not only being buried and conscious, but of trying to escape by any means; the imagery we used in the lyrics was to the fashion of banging ones face against the inside of a coffin lid to the point of the face breaking apart. The idea of eternally beating oneself against the inside of a coffin with the hope of escaping is obviously insane. However, I think the implications in the idea give space for a wide range of emotions to come about. There must be some sort of optimism or at least obsession present to instigate that sort of insane routine. The other tracks are similar. Each element is captured in the cover art, as well.”

That ‘Four Phantoms’ stands as such an intricate and intense opus indicates that for both involved, Bell Witch is now priority number one. Until recently, Dylan had also lent his thunderous bass skills to crusty, atmospheric doom quartet Samothrace since the band formed in 2006.

“Samothrace wanted to tour more than I was able to due to my work and attention to Bell Witch, so I had to bow out,” Dylan explains. “It was a tough decision, as I love the band and the music we’d written in it. Bell Witch is definitely my primary concern musically. It gives me a lot more room to work my own ideas than was available in Samothrace, which is something I love about it. Samothrace has a heavy blues influence. With Bell Witch, while blues might be inherent, we try to take a more classical/minimalist approach. I think Bell Witch is more focused on tension and space. Also, without guitars, I think an implied sparseness is present.”

And as you’ll soon discover, that’s a sparseness you’ll be happy to lose yourself in.

‘Four Phantoms’ is out April 28th on Profound Lore

You can find Bell Witch on Facebook

The post Listen To A Brand New Bell Witch Song appeared first on Terrorizer.

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