WITCHSNAKE are a still-new formation hailing from Italy, who may or may not contain members of other cult Italian bands. All we know - still - is that the band's lineup consists of Al on "guitars, bass, possession" and Joe on "drums, weed." Fittingly, WITCHSNAKE's self-titled debut - originally released digitally last autumn, and then physically released by HELTER SKELTER this past summer - was a smoke-choked juggernaut of blackened-yet-bluesy STONER DOOM in the strictest, most traditional sense. Witchsnake was unique in that the album's first three tracks were the newest, recorded in August 2022 and showcasing the band at their most towering and terrifying; the second half of the album was comprised of three tracks recorded a month earlier, which WITCHSNAKE consider their original demo - jammier and mostly instrumental, they concluded the album in fitting style.
Now, WITCHSNAKE reveal their most potent work yet in Deathcult of the Snake. Creepy and greasy, like biker doom taken to its sleaziest-yet-crushing extremes, the tone alone on LP#2 could peel paint off walls...and then soundly collapse those walls with their molten power. Whilst recognizably WITCHSNAKE, there's moments of Hawkwind at their heaviest and Monolith-era Amebix that are integrated across Deathcult of the Snake, rendering the latent blackness and shuddering stoner doom ever more unique and engaging. Likewise, the band can still step back and smoke with the best of them - the vapor trails seem to coil both higher and lower here, the sense of space simultaneously soothing and foreboding - and when the CRUSH comes, it really comes... But perhaps best of all are the vocals; while never omnipresent, when they do come in, they sound like the unsettling ruminations of a wizard-biker sage. Or, perhaps just gaze upon the stark cover art and you'll be forewarned of the madness you're about the embark upon: this is the Deathcult of the Snake!
