Witchgoat/Egregors Of The Black Faith/Morbid Skull Records/Hell Productions/2019 CD Review

  Witchgoat  are  a  band  from  El  Salvador  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  black,  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2019  album  "Egregors  Of  The  Black  Faith"  which  will  be  released  in  February  as  a  joint  effort  between  Morbid  Skull  Records and  Hell  Productions.

  A  very  evil  and  demonic  intro  starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction.  A  great  amount  of  first  wave  black  metal  and  thrash  elements  can  be  heard in  the  bands  musical  style  along  with  the  vocals  being  mostly  aggressive  screams  as  well  as  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  yet  old  school  style.  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  also  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  as  well  as  the  riffs  also  adding  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody.

  While  the music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  80'sit  still  sounds  very  modern  at  the  same  time  along  with  some  old  school  death  metal  elements  being  added  into  the  bands  musical  style.  Tremolo  picking  can  also  be  heard  in  some  of  the  faster  riffing  and  the  music  always  remains  very  heavy.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  occultism,  ancient  civilizations,  ancient  beliefs  and  war  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Witchgoat  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  black,  death  and  thrash  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Proliferation  Of  The  Dark  Souls"  "Into  the  Jaws  Of  Death"  and  "Beyond  the  Soil  Of  The  Dead".  8  out  of  10. 

https://toiletovhell.com/premiere-witchgoat-spew-forth-the-black-vomit-of-souls

     

Witchgoat Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

[P. Scyther] Witchgöat was created by guitarist P. Scyther who had the idea of setting a musical project that would play the type of music he had been a fan of his whole life. This included Latin American thrash from the 80’s and old school death metal as well as blackened death metal of the 90’s. He found M.Miasma  to be the vocalist with the identity and personality required to give the line-up the right spirit. Both respectively composed the music and the lyrical concept of the band together with E. Driller as well as the charismatic bassist C. Fog. They recorded the demo Umbra Regit which was released on July 31, 2018.

2.So far you have released a demo, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

[P. Scyther] The Umbra Regit demo evokes and mixes the sound elements that we like within metal, high speed revolutions, doses of blast beats, melodies in minor keys, violence, and raw and rough vocalizations of black metal. We have not invented anything and neither are we trying to be original. Simply we play what we love. Before we were musicians we were fans of metal our whole life and as fans we have passed to be from enthusiastic spectators to be the protagonists of something that we have always liked.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

[M. Miasma] I am interested in merging lectures related to different currents on occultism, ancient civilizations and ancient beliefs. Also a little bit of war tales, honestly there is no boundary on which topic to talk about right now is this but on the coming album could be different there is completely no  bounds, we will do whatever we feel interesting to do for us.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Witchgöat'?
[M. Miasma] The name was decided with P. Scyther we know the words “Witch” and “Goat” are being used by other bands on their names but we do not give a fuck about that, I think the music/lyrics of the bands gives a band a solid name, you can have a “killer” band name but if the production, music and content is bullshit then the band will be bullshit so there is not much concern about that situation. We choose that name because it gets along well with the intention of the music and lyrics for this project, we want an obscure, aggressive and gloomy vibe In the music and that name fits good for us.

5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the demo cover?
[M. Miasma] Symbolizes the rebirth after death, a step closer to find the answer of one of the biggest mysteries of humanity, death, perfect and determined as our vision within this band, determined to vomit tunes of death, aggressiveness and without any compromise. Also the only commitment we can take is towards ourselves, to be honest while composing music without any intention to build any egocentric bullshit around it, we do not have nothing to prove to anyone just to  ourselves.

6.Has the band had any opportunities to do any live shows yet?

[P. Scyther] So far we have only rehearsed privately for the making of Umbra Regit and for the recording of the complete album that the title will be released soon. It should be released before the year ends. For now, we are concentrating in producing music before we start playing live shows. The conditions in El Salvador to do live performances are not the best, however, we do not rule out making live shows in the near future.

7.The demo was released on 'Morbid Skull Records', how did you get in contact with this label?
[M. Miasma] Yes, it was a good option since I own that label.

8.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black and thrash metal?

[P. Scyther] We are a new band and making a path is complicated and can be hard work. Up to now, we have had good reviews from people who are enthusiastic of the genre in the underground thanks to Umbra Regit. We did not expect this response and it has been surprise in a positive way, even though there are less favorable opinions related to the precariousness of the sound and concerning that the sound of the band does not include novelty elements or innovative resources. However, as mentioned before our interest is not in that direction and we believe that a good underground project must keep a certain level of precariousness and realism in the sound of its instruments. Personally, we do not like so much, metal with a refined sound or an artificial level of production.

9.Right now you are working on your first full length album, what can we expect musically once it is released?

[P. Scyther] Our first album is fully recorded. Some details are missing but the music is about to be produced. The album will give continuity to the Umbra Regit demo that right now reflects the band at this moment. The other songs from the full-length are the same kind as the demo and you can expect the same speed, vocal ferocity, melody, blast beats, and evil riffs in minor keys, and lyrics are as the ones already described. If you have liked the demo you will absolutely enjoy the album.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

[P. Scyther] There is a bit of everything you know, great albums of thrash metal like Schizophrenia from Sepultura and the first releases from Bathory, Sarcófago, Aura Noir, Dissection, Destruction, Possessed, Death and the melodies of bands like Mercyful Fate are among some of the classics that have been an influence for us. From nowadays, blackened European thrash bands like Nekromantheon, Inculter, Obliteration, Quintessenz, Sepulcher, Black Magic, DeathHammer or Latin American bands like, Sierpes, Destroyer Attack, Conceived by Hate, Mortem, Disorder and that kind of style also have an influence.

11.Does Occultism play any role in your music?
[M. Miasma] Incorporate it into music I see it more as a consequence of something more global, this includes topics that are of personal interest for our lives.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
[P. Scyther] We would like to thank everyone that has read this interview and given their support to the band and our project. We hope to have the news of our upcoming album soon and that everyone enjoys it.

https://www.facebook.com/witchgoatsv/

Witchgoat/Umbra Regit/Morbid Skull Records/2018 Demo Review

  Witchgoat  are  a  band  from  El  Salvador  that  plays a  mixture  of  black,  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2018  demo  "Umbra  Regit"  which  will  be  released  on  July  31st  by  Morbid  Skull  Records.

  A  very  old  school  thrash  sound  starts  off  the  demo  along  with  all  of  the  musical instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  black  metal  screams  as  well  as  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats.

  Dark  sounding  melodies  can  also  be  heard  in  the  guitar  riffing  while  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  80's  and  90's  along  with  the  solos  and  leads  being  done  in  a  very  melodic  and  old  school  style  as  well  as  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  elements  of  death  metal  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  they  close  the  demo  with  an  acoustic  instrumental.

  Witchgoat  plays  a  musical  style  that  goes  back  to  the  80's  and  90's  era  of  black,  death  and  thrash  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  old  school  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness  and  occult  themes. 

  In  my  opinion  Witchgoat  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black,  death  and  thrash  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Proliferation  Of  The  Dark  Souls".  8  out  of  10.

https://morbidskull.bandcamp.com/album/umbra-regit-demo