{"id":21806,"date":"2012-08-31T04:34:23","date_gmt":"2012-08-31T09:34:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=21806"},"modified":"2013-02-05T16:17:44","modified_gmt":"2013-02-05T21:17:44","slug":"witchcraft-legend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2012\/witchcraft-legend\/","title":{"rendered":"Witchcraft | Legend<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines<\/span>
\n– News Editor —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"It\u2019s been five years since the last Witchcraft album (2007\u2019s The Alchemist<\/em>) was released, and in that time the Swedish traditional\/doom metal band more or less broke up, reformed with new members and switched record labels. Now signed to Nuclear Blast and featuring two new guitarists (Tom Jondelius and Simon Solomon) and a new drummer (Oscar Johansson), Witchcraft returns at a time when the style of metal they\u2019ve played for more than a decade is more popular than ever.<\/p>\n

Legend<\/em> is the title of the album, the band\u2019s fourth overall, and as soon as it starts playing you know that even with the new lineup it has the same unmistakable Witchcraft sound and energy. Witchcraft has always managed to hit that sweet spot between Black Sabbath and Uriah Heep (but mostly Black Sabbath) circa 1970. That comes from the heavy, doomy Tony Iommi-worshipping guitar riffs, Magnus Pelander\u2019s Ozzy Osbourne-style wail and the overall gloomy feel they bring to every song. They bring all these elements to bear on Legend<\/em>, starting with the up-tempo groove of \u201cDeconstruction\u201d and continuing all the way through to the somber, plodding 12-minute closer \u201cDead End.\u201d Other highlights include the melancholy yet infectiously melodic \u201cFlag of Fate\u201d and \u201cGhosts House\u201d and the wickedly catchy \u201cIt\u2019s Not Because of You,\u201d which is the album\u2019s first single.<\/p>\n

Legend<\/em> was produced by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios, so there\u2019s a different vibe than on previous Witchcraft albums. Bogren, who made a name for himself mixing bands like Opeth, Paradise Lost and Katatonia, has an identifiable style, and it\u2019s more polished than Witchcraft fans may be used to. It works though, and really well at that, capturing the band\u2019s retro approach with a measure of refinement and an overall dark atmosphere.<\/p>\n

If you were a Witchcraft fan going into this album, there\u2019s no way Legend<\/em> can possibly disappoint. If you\u2019re new to the band and just getting into the old school heavy rock and metal revival via bands like Ghost, Blood Ceremony and Graveyard, you\u2019re about to experience one of the best bands the genre has to offer. Legend<\/em> is a fantastic album overall, and joins the latest offerings by Angel Witch and Orange Goblin as one of 2012\u2019s absolute best releases.<\/p>\n

Edition Notes: Both the CD and LP versions of Legend<\/em> include the bonus track \u201cBy Your Definition\u201d that is not available digitally.<\/p>\n

Genre: Heavy Metal, Doom Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nMagnus Pelander (v)
\nTom Jondelius (g)
\nSimon Solomon (g)
\nOla Henriksson (b)
\nOscar Johansson (d)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tDeconstruction
\n2.\tFlag of Fate
\n3.\tIt\u2019s Not Because of You
\n4.\tAn Alternative to Freedom
\n5.\tGhosts House
\n6.\tWhite Light Suicide
\n7.\tDemocracy
\n8.\tDystopia
\n9.\tDead End<\/p>\n

Label: Nuclear Blast<\/p>\n

Website: http:\/\/www.witchcrafthome.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 9.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines – News Editor — It\u2019s been five years since the last Witchcraft album (2007\u2019s The Alchemist) was released, and in that time the Swedish traditional\/doom metal band more or less broke up, […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6772],"tags":[336,1093,2491,2839,339,334],"class_list":{"0":"post-21806","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-arcrvws2012","7":"tag-cd","8":"tag-doom-metal","9":"tag-heavy-metal","10":"tag-legend","11":"tag-nuclear-blast","12":"tag-review"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21806\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}