Fearless, confrontational, adventurous epic power doom metal!
Canadian/American metallers Smoulder return with their long-awaited third studio album, Witch Wife in an Alien World, a bold, daring collection of eight songs that continue to push boundaries and shatter conventions.
Recorded between Soundwell Studio in Espoo, Finland with Valtteri Kallio and Swift Road Studios in Chicago, Illinois with Vincent Ippolito, with mixing and mastering duties courtesy of Roland Rodas, Smoulder—featuring vocalist Sarah Ann, guitarists Collin Wolf and Shon Vincent, bassist Adam Blake and drummer Kevin Hester—have summoned eight songs of depth and intrigue, venturing from the triumphant opener “Water Wars,” rollicking, custom-made-for-headbanging “Shadow of the Vulture” and sweeping “Cathedral of the Trees” and “Smouldering Remains.” Of immediate note is the band’s first half-English, half-Finnish-sung number, “Noitien Loitsu,” a cut that found Sarah Ann digging into her Finnish roots (a dual Canadian/Finnish citizen, she has several generations of family calling the Land of Thousand Lakes home). The song also features a guest solo from the band’s live guitarist, Bootleg Henkka (also of Finnish epic black metallers Havukruunu).
The album’s cover was created by British fantasy/horror illustrator Ian Miller, whose previous credits include works for Stormkeep and Ulthar, as well as some H.P Lovecraft book covers, the animated film Wizards with Ralph Bakshi (one of Sarah’s all-time favorites) and his work on Warhammer and Magic: The Gathering.
