NGHTCRWLR : "OZ"

 This is the electronic project of Kristina from King Woman. The first track is more of an ambient intro with a spoken word narrative to set the mood, before they launch off into something that blends acid jazz with drum n bass. The vocals are once again low and breathy, as she sets more of a mood than crafts a melody here. I like what is happ-ening, though I would not want an entire album modeled after this song alone. "Infrared" is more minimalist, though she does sing more, so the songwriting is experimental but still in play. "Fantastique Voyage" is more ominous. It takes a minute for the beat to kick in. The vocal layers are more aggressive.

"UP!" has some noisy atmosphere to it, but leans a more more in your face despite being mixed in a very reverberant, thick manner that provides a bit of a bugger. "Madhouse" is more organic and punk despite her detached ghost vocal. This album is more experimental than being aligned with the dance music of today. There is, however alot being thrown at you on this song. "Replicant' is one of the album's more obtuse moments. Even then, the vocals have purpose, and there are dynamics. The songwriting of "Emerald City" flows well. It almost feels more like a Grimes song.

"Lifeblood" feels darker, like it is flirting with a more produced and dramatic version of vvitch house. Once the beat really kicks in, it feels like Charli XCX is having a profound drug experience. Things get up to a more hyped techno level of bpms. The last song "Butterfly" takes its time to unfold as she creates several vocal layers.I will give this one a 9.5, it slipped between the cracks this year and might have made the top 10 electronic albums if it had been more song-focused, but it's excellent for what it is. 

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Gothtober- Patriarchy : "Manual for Dying"

 

I liked this project's last album, though I am guessing they do not self-identify as goth, but what they do is likea darker, more brooding version of Peaches.  In many ways, it is not unlike what was going down on the new Pixel Grip album. They are not afraid of increasing intensity here on the opening track as they declare that " if you want to keep your boy on a leash/ the strategy is catch and release," which could have a double meaning. "New Way" works off a somewhat poppier pulse. The mood is dripping with sex. It's not all humping groove as things back off enough to have dynamics. 

"Coming Up" has guitar accents giving it more of an industrial grind, though it's more on the "Pretty Hate Machine" side of things. It seems like it's about getting choked during sex. "Bad Thing" has more motion in the ocean as they muse, what they are doing under the effects of alcohol. It is more on the pop side of their equation, but it works. There is a more experimental witch house-like sound to "My Place."She continues her seductive purr on " Die Like Everyone Else".  It also finds her voice going into an upper register I haven't noticed before and a sultry Madonna-like croon. 

"Like Me" and "Pain is Power" both had a weird hybrid mix of hyper-pop and witch-house; the latter is more celebratory of the fact that blood is everywhere, but she does not care. "Victim of God" also has a more pop feel that is tempered by a noisy swath of metallic dissonance. It also moves more likea Nine Inch Nails song. The last song is almost a ballad, but grimy enough to work. This album is a lot of fun, should have been called "Porn songs," but as there is not a lot about dying. I will give it a 9.5. 

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Gothtober - Mater Suspiria Vision : "Cinemagoria"

 

This German artist pioneered the "witch House " subgenre of electronic music. If you don't know what Witch House is, well, I am sure that will be revealed by the end of this review, though this project does not really embrace some of the trap elements, but works more off a trip-hop feel that is built off of a creepy atmosphere. The album starts with a sonic swathe of sound that builds from ambient noise. It is more like an intro than an actual song unto itself. The second track, "Exorcisme Auto Erotique," is more minimalist. The synths gradually creep up, as sexy breathing begins the haunt the background as it slowly builds into a techno pulse, that is less witch house and more Lords of Acid.

'She Came in Static"  rides in on the more lo-fi synths and 808 drums that you expect from the genre. The mood is more ethereeal and haunting than the darker, more sinister pulse this project normally delivers. It rides the drone before an atmospheric swell. There is a more synthwave feel to "Hollywood Pandemonium." The whisper of a wicked witch lurks over the synth melody. It all works together to make this the most compelling beat so far. 

"L'Autre Hier" is consumed by its ambient pulse before the title track takes over. The more surreal witchhouse-sounding synths are mixed far in the background, as a French woman speaks over the song. The vocals are buried somewhere back there. This is the most experimental thing I have heard from this project, less beat-driven and more sounds washing over you. Things do get a little darker for "Crucifixion Neon' as the vocals continue to crawl under the haze, though the creepy tension you think of witch house having can be heard drifting in from the shadows.  

"Erotic Serum Injected in Stereo" works off the dream logic this album was said to be created with, as it sounds like something from a dream or a Swans outtake. It evolves into a more lo-fi dark wave-like song with a David Lynch noir mood to it. Earlier, I said by the end of the review you would have a better understanding of witch house, I think I underestimated how my experimentation was happening here. Though this song comes closer to capturing that mood when comparing it to artists like Salem. They are obviously conscious enough to know what witch house is and that they are supposed to be making it as that is what also happens in a more textbook manner on the last song. I will give this one a 9, as it is one of the project's more experimental releases, deviating from what I went in expecting. But it would seem they came up with some good drug music anyway. 

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Gothtober- Meldamor : "My Ode to You"

 

When the album really kicks in there is a synth wave vibe colliding with a more militant chanted vocal that is not aggressive enough to be industrial, but perhaps that is what they are going for. The vocals could use effects as they are a little dry to mix with the electronic sounds presented here. I appreciate the creepy sounds they capture here, and the lo-fi nature is played into the overall sonic scope of what they are conjuring here. The smoky female vocals hold more in common with Boy Harsher when they are in the lower depths of her alto range. This dark wave is done in a manner that resonates with 2024. 

Things get more depressing for "Treading Out". Her vocals are once again in control of the dynamics. Though many of the same sounds are used on this one, they switch things up enough in their songwriting for it to still work well enough. "In This Moment" finds the groove shifting, as she gets more sultry in her lower register. You can hear the effort they are making to switch things up. However, halfway into this one, I find myself wanting them to introduce more sonic colors. They do not deliver this with "My Ode to You". I do like that there is a trace of witch house in what they are doing here. 

The low moan of her voice on "Underground" reminds me of Zola Jesus. In fact, this song feels like a more punk rock take on Zola Jesus.  "Angel  Rocker"  is more aggressive overall. It carries more drive in the drone of its pulse, as she chants the same phrases in a more hip-hop manner. The album closes with the more melodic "The Golden Rule". There is a boozy feel to the music as well as a raw tongue-in-cheek approach to the vocals. I think she can sing if she tries it is just more punk rock for her to make fun of that point. I will give this album a 9, as they are onto something cool here, hope to hear more from them in the future. 

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RITUALZ : "RADICAL MACABRO "

 

After Salem I would say this project is one of the most important names in Witch House.  Though this album finds them going in a more industrial direction, with a black metal vocal commanding the darkness they sonically summon here. Things are given a heavier pulse on the second song though the throb of the atmosphere. I like how the synth lines give the songs a writhing feeing. The is counter balanced by the industrial punches. There is more of a conventional song structure for "Nadir". The song after it follows a similar smoothed out groove that is more high energy. 

There is a denser and more opaque haze of sonic atmosphere that shrouds "Dose". Perhaps this is on purpose since the theme of the album is mental health struggles and his experience going on meds which can cause a hazy disconnected dissonance.  It is pretty dark and is the track that comes closest to being witch house thus far. The vocals cut through more on " Static Noise" which is more song oriented, working off the groove of the beats. The vocals are sung in a urgent whisper which is not uncommon in the dark wave flavored industrial. It is more introspective than aggressive. The arrangement offers some dynamic sense to the song.  It flows really well. 

There is a more subdued tension lurking in the shadows of "DIE HERE Now" . He is not a great singer, but Ilike how the vocals are produced as it works well with the context of the song.  The last track is just an ambient outro. I will round this one up to a 10, the sounds are there but so is the framework of the song they create which are dark and full of feeling, industrial fans and those who remember witch house will both enjoy this one.  

    

https://ritualz.bandcamp.com/album/radical-macabro#:~:text=%3Ciframe%20style%3D%22border,RITUALZ%3C/a%3E%3C/iframe%3E

Gothtober- White Ring- "Show Me Heaven"

 

First a new Salem album , now this, one might think 'witch house" was making a comeback if it ever had anything to have come back to. The almost Tumblr reality genre, that went on to become known as vapor wave in come circles would be well defined by what goes on in the opening track of this album. Though the murky haze here is almost shoe gaze like, rather than trappy in it's darkness.  This more ethereal tone is contrasted by an industrial abrasion in the second song. The vocals are buried in this , though it works for what this is trying to do. I might not be able to handle an entire album of this , but in the context of the album as a whole it works. On "They Say Something' they split the difference and focus more on a slinky groove that finds them heading in the direction of more sound focused than song. If not trying to breathe amid all the atmosphere the beat to "Calm Down' might remind you of Nine Inch Nails. 

 A question to ask of this album might be can you focus on this sound and write songs as well as Salem did on their last album?  "Drop" finds this balance better though not as well as the first three songs. "Got U" you proves they needed to pick up the pace and lean more into the groove. The vocals are then allowed to fade into more of a texture and not needed to be relied on to hold the song together. There is a strum of guitar on "Fake Fuck" which feels like something Grimes might do. It should be noted Grimes pulled more than her fair share of inspiration from this genre. This does feel more song focused. "Loose" is text book witch house will male vocals drowned in effects. Speaking of drowning in effects, that is what happens to the entirety of 'Dagger III" .  "Charm" dwells in a similar dream state. 

This album excels at capturing the sounds that take you to the place of narcotic sonic euphoria . You will feel like it is the summer of 2011 all over again. "Tower" is not the Zola Jesus cover you might have been hoping for. The vocals on this album never really come close to any kind of belting it out , and are content to stay obscured in the mist. If I was on drugs I am sure I would appreciate this more. They end things on a darker and denser note with a whispered vocal on the verses that reminds me of the last Hante album, but they are capable of a bigger dynamic shift on the chorus.  I will give this album a 9, as it is good at doing what it sets out to do and sounds great.  

Gothtober - SALEM - "Fires in Heaven"

 It's been 10 fucking years since their last full length "King Night" . I loved that album so the bar is pretty high, so when they opened up the album with some trailer park sounding symphonic hip hop I was skeptical, but they come back and give me just what I was wanting on the title track. It is dark and murky. Witch House resurrected in time for Halloween. If I still did cocaine , this is what I would be doing it to with some gothed out mentally unstable whores in a seedy motel. That is the image that come to mind. They blend the spooky atmospheric chaos  with hip hop  for "Crisis" . There is a more industrial punch to the nightmarish soaring of "Sears Tower" . I love the vocals on this one. They are produced perfectly. Jesus I have missed these guys. 

"Starfall" is more like a pop ballad run thru a filter of futuristic narcotics. This is different for them. Perhaps not as dark as I want, but it is still them , so I live with this. 'Wings" kind of floats off from the mood of the previous song. I like the previous song a little better. This is almost more like an interlude. "Red River" is one of the lead singles from this album and rightfully so. It blends hip hop with the darker moods you came here for. "Old Gods" brings back the darkness. There is a Post Malone like quality to it. But the vocals are better has they become run through a distorted effect on the chorus. They song is really fire all the way around . This album might have a wider emotional range than "King Night" but "King Night" is darker. 

"Braids" is just an instrumental interlude that might have been better served as the intro to "DieWithMe". How high were they when this song was recorded. I like the atmosphere. It is not as dark, but feels like opiates set to music. If I ever relapse it will be to this song. If one day you read on Cvlt Nation that I am dead, this was probably the last song I heard. "Not Much of Life" is a more conventional sounding song in some ways. I will give this a 9. It could have been darker. Yes, "King Night" is a better album. But this brings them back to us and I will take what I can get. With that said this is still excellent and far from just settling for what ever crumbs we as fans are thrown. I think they accomplished what they set out to do and really with 10 years between album we can not expect them to just pick up where they left off. 

Austra : " Future Politics"

This project came into my awareness when I was tunneling through the dark layers of the inner trying to find more "witch house" acts, this is around the same time period I discovered Chelsea Wolfe & Zola Jesus. Katie Stelmanis is voice and brains behind this. Not as dark as some of the other artists who crawled up from the witch house scene, her magick is woven with a breezy atmosphere. While electronic at it's core the songs are written with enough heart in them to still feel more organic than your average pro-tooling button pusher. The production is a mix of fine tuning and fuzzy lo-fi beats, but here voice is clearly what holds these songs together as the piano riffs are mixed further back.



There is more emphasis placed on the title track, which gathers into a pretty tasty groove that ebbs down into piano interludes. Her vocals have a quirkier tone as she gets all Millennial lyrically. I do not let this deter me from the song. While it is very smooth, "Utopia" seems like a song that would be filler for Imogen Heap. Not a bad song , just doesn't strike me as being as inspired. There is a a more ambient new wave feel to it. There is a more experimental atmosphere to "I Am a Monster" this is very conducive for her to go up into her head register.  If you are going to do dancey electro pop that is thoughtful and not choking on bubble gum "I Love You More than You Love Yourself" this the way to go.

They lyrics to "Angel In Your Eye" are pretty smart and the groove to this song is not far behind in gray matter. There is a more head nodding beat behind "Freepower" which is another one that takes what Imogen Heap does in a more surreal direction while still putting some dance in your step. Lyrically I like the more metaphysical message within "Gaia" , musically it's a shade more dialed in. "Beyond a Mortal" is more ambient and a little weird, but still makes the most of it's tempo and melodies. The album closes with "43" which is what happens when witch house grew up out of the hipster art show and became smart pop.  I'll give this album a nudge up to a 9.5 as I can hear it growing on me.

Mutterlein : "Orphans of the Black Sun"

When I run out of music to listen to I begin to dig into the in-box and this morning I got a pleasant surprise in so doing. Mutterlein is a project out of France. This kind of music was tagged as a genre called "witch wave". Which makes sense though witch core might be more fitting as it's more aggressive than new wave. Though the traditional instrumentation of punk is not in play here. Synths and organs are being used, but in a manner suited for a 70's art school horror movie rather than anything to dance to. Marion's voice is gritty and carries a punch yet she can really sing when the song calls for it. Things stay dark for "BlackDog" which is not the Led Zeppelin song.This song is more emotionally oppressive and captures a sinister sound.Her voice carries more of a rasp on this one.
More horror organ sets the tone for "My War". The drumming goes for more of a ritualistic pound rather than any rock beat. The song eventually breaks down into more of a folk ditty in the final minute. The first two songs were stronger than this one. "Heirs of Doom" is more minimalist and down trodden with the emphasis being placed more heavily on the atmosphere. Guitar add noise in the background rather than trying to form riffs around what is going on. This works here because these songs do no lend them selves to riff rock. The first song that really has more of a rocking drive to it is "My Ghost Army". There is a dissonant droning to the more gloom folk of "Mother Black Sun". Her vocals seemed to have explored all of the colors in their spectrum as this point in the album.

> Now you might tell me that witch wave is a thing and that all witch wave bands sound like this, but from the clicking around I did, it doesn't seem to be the case and seems to have fallen out of the whole witch house thing, so it is safe to say that what is being done here gets points for originality. I can easily hear this album appealing to fans of Swans and Jarboe.The spooky organ sounds set this apart from Swans oriented projects. I'll give this one a 9 and see how it sits with me, some of the more atmospheric pieces might not get as much play as the more solid structures, but over all this deserved to be rounded up for many different reasons quality of sounds and the mood captured being at the top of that list.

Bring Your Drugs to the Dance Floor...Young Magic : "Breathing Statues

What ever happened to witch house ? It's a question I have been pondering the past year after the dark sub-genre of electronica noted for occult references fell of the map. So I clicked around the inner webs looking for answer. It was sometimes referred to as ghost house and had more in common with trip hop than house music. The biggest artists of the genre like Salem haven't had anything out since 2010. There looks to have been some motion in the ocean last year from some artists like Glasser and Mater Suspiria Vision released albums last year. It looks like the genre is being transitioned over into dream pop judging by this Duo.

From the opener "One" you can tell with it brings a change in production that is the biggest difference for the switch, along with more up tempo beats. There is a blend of psychedelic eastern sounds that sounds like they could have sampled a Beatles album. The dreamy female vocal are bathed in effect, yet not garbled in them like witch house. Not as dark or focused on the occult it still hits enough the sweet spots that have been left empty by the genre's disappearing act. "Fall" has more of a jazzy undercurrent, but the psyche elements are still slightly present. Not unlike Portishead in the manner the vocals are what really is driving the songs, even as ethereal as they are. I stands to reason that this dream pop genre owes a lot to the Cocteau Twins. "Fox Glove" floats out of the previous song. Draped in synth flutes the hook is the strongest, until you get to what must be the album's single "Something in the Water". The longing in her voice is almost of  Sarah Mclaughlin magnitude, but the scenery it's surrounded by is dark as the witch house this sort of thing came from. It's pretty much a perfect song.

Strange how after writing the perfect song they follow it up with something as unfocused as "Ageless" . The narcotic beat of "Cobra" brings back the eastern sounds and finds them in a much more Massive Attack like place. Male vocals take over on "Holographic" they are on the androgynous side , but don't work as well as Melati's. "Mythnomer" has a more lo-fi witch house like distortion to it. The pitch shifted vocals even make an appearance. The staggered beat is a little dis jointed and the vocals are rapped, but it all strangely works. "Waiting for the Ground to Open" is not quite a fully realized song, though there are some good ideas captured here and this albums is so well produced, they could put effects on sneezes and it would sound good.

It closes on a note that is more like old Zola Jesus. She doesn't have the same throaty alto Zola has, but a ghostly grace. This song is pretty much trip hop, call it by any other name if you want. this album sound grace at times the dream like nature makes the trip so loose the song gets lost. I'll give it an 8 if you miss witch house or even trip hop for that matter this is worth your time.

Zola Jesus: "Taiga"

  

The wait is over. A new album of all new songs and not just stringed re-interpretations. The title track that opens the album is also one of the album's darker and more experimental moments. The ice woman facade melts, leaving her take on pop music. Her music has always been electronic and in some ways pop, but it came from a darker place than popular music from the 80s came out of. The melodies of songs like "Dangerous Days," which is also the lead single of the album,  come from a no less emotional place, just a less desperate and brooding place.

The mood shifts slightly back into the old witch house/ goth roots with a smooth coat of R&B over it on "Dust." The song resonates with me more than "Dangerous Days," which is still trying to grow on me. The backing track is sparser and darker here. The songs have more breathing room, even in the dynamic builds. One reason for this is that she has said in a recent interview that she wrote these songs around her voice,  rather than creating soundscapes and singing on top of them.  This is very obvious on the song "Nail," which lays her voice out nakedly.

The synths that open "Hunger" caught me off guard as they were a little brighter, but this song turns into one of the album's more intense moments, and captures the emotion I want from her. Like Morrissey or Robert Smith, Zola has now put herself into a place where we don't hear her to be happy, yet she paints with a broader emotional capacity here. "I've got a hunger in my veins/ I won't surrender until it takes me away/" doesn't come across like she is talking about addiction; it seems hopeful, like it's more about recovery.

Vocally, her strongest moment is "Go (Blank Sea)" , she abandons her trademark belting on the verses and allows her voice some room to sing. There are also some darker synths haunting the background on this one. What has changed is that there is less noise and harsh experimentation, which is sometimes missed more than others, as the weirdness that does color the songs works with them rather than against them. So you might be disappointed it that was your favorite thing about her earlier work.

Lyrically, the big difference is the clarity of the soul searching. The recovery theme is not unfounded when she sings lines like "From first step to last /  I'm rising from the ashes " on "Ego". So the sobering mood is somewhat brighter, relying on the subtle shadows of songs like the vast "Lawless". Some of this recovery might not be from substance, but from the urban environment she previously wrote in, as this album was written from a remote island of the Washington coast.

Her songs have traditionally grown on me; the ones that initially catch my ear, like "Long Way Down," don't mean they will always be the most endearing in the long run . The hook is less subtle here, so I am not sure if they will still work like creeper weed on this one, as sugary as pop is it normally sticks more at first, but if anyone is going to break that rule, it would be her.  There are some songs with a dynamic range like "Hollow" that can't be denied even upon first listen, as they are rather breathtaking. This is where the more mature songwriting approach is most evident.

The album ends with the ethereal musing of  "It's Not Over", where I think old Zola and New Zola are best blended. It's the darker feel I want married to the crisper songwriting and production. Like I said, she tends to grow on me, so I am working off first impressions of the handful of times I have listened to this album. Once it's loaded in the iPod and I see what type of soundtrack it provides to daily life, I will be able to more fully digest it. I knew a change in how things worked for her was going to happen, and though this is poppier, it's a far cry from Lorde or Pink, so she hasn't sold out on us, so breathe another sigh of relief.  I'll go ahead and give this one a 10, though if you know me, that's not going to come as much of a surprise.