Those who are aware of my work at Rocksins will know that back in 2015, I was delighted to stumble upon the terrific debut EP from Argentine melodeath group Witchour (you can read the review here). Two years later, the quintet are back with their latest EP, a two-track double A-side Night Hag & El Pacto. A small serving from them, but displaying yet more evolution from a group that seems set to continue to challenge the boundaries of their genre.
Overall, however, Night Hag & El Pacto is a solid continuation of the hefty standards first set by Witchour on The Haunting. Yes, there are still problems, but most of these issues lie in potential issues that can be avoided if the band remains aware of what they’re doing and keeps pushing in the right direction - something already apparent with the improved harsh vocals of Alejandro Souza. Argentina has lacked a true breakout band to rival the likes of Sepultura in Brazil, but with enough of a push it’s perfectly possible that Witchour could be that band.
As a two-track release, it’s impossible not to do this as a track-by-track review, but both tracks featured here add something different to the template set out on The Haunting. “Night Hag” opens up with an almost electronic intro, before delving into subtle flourishes of symphony and orchestration in the background. While it’s not enough to overpower the track and turn them into an outright symphonic death metal band à la SepticFlesh or Fleshgod Apocalypse, it does add an extra sense of depth to the track which The Haunting didn’t quite have nailed down yet. Credit has to go to producer (and also Witchour guitarist) Ezequiel Catalano for producing such a refined sound with such textured production that makes you spot new things on every repeat listen, with every part of the track (including new bassist Marco Ignacio Toba) perfectly placed in the mix.
On “El Pacto”, Witchour change things up a little more, going for a more urgent tone while being both more scream-centric and more melodic at the same time. It’s a difficult trick to pull off, yet they do it while opting to perform in their native Spanish. The multitude of effects that Catalano and fellow axe-slinger Federico Rodriguez take the song in unexpected directions and present another side to this band which we haven’t seen before, and its presence on Night Hag & El Pacto provides a lot of promise for their full length album, due in early 2018. If these tracks are to appear on their next album then it should be well worth checking out.
On the downside, however, there is a real fear that Witchour might well end up failing to progress out of their tried-and-tested song structure of heavy melodeath verses with catchy clean hooks in the choruses – a problem which plagues modern metalcore acts such as Killswitch Engage all too often. Almost every track released by the band since their inception has seen this sort of structure and, although they’ve made it work so far, there will come a time where they need to step out of this comfort zone and really start pushing themselves to avoid becoming predictable in future. “El Pacto” does threaten to change this in the first half of the chorus, but unfortunately it doesn’t feel like enough and the track is instead saved by its instrumentation and fantastic breakdown.
Listen to and download Night Hag & El Pacto below. Witchour's new album (title TBA) is due out in early 2018.