BELL WITCH — Mirror Reaper (review)

BELL WITCH — Mirror Reaper album cover Album · 2017 · Funeral Doom Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
renkls
When a group of artists intrinsically tie a personal tragedy to the creation of their art, it becomes an inseparable aspect within it. Such has clearly been imbued in the creation of Bell Witch's massive, emotionally crushing third full length outing, Mirror Reaper. Envisioned as one continuous, 83-minute composition, spanning two disks on CD, 2 double sided LPs or seamlessly in digital format, Bell Witch have created a monumental, sombre eulogy to their ex-drummer and vocalist Adrian Guerra.

Glacial in pace, yet extreme in scope, Bell Witch craft introspective bass lines which ring out with the sense of grief. Traversing the length and breadth of what's on offer, the composition offers peaks and valleys, near silent moments ringing with the subtle, yet unmistakable musings of an organ - to massive soundscapes of crushing emotional weight.

It is hard to overstate the diversity of the primarily two-man drum and bass guitar band, forcing out your feelings with every twist and turn on offer. The subtle insertion of the late Adrian Guerra's vocals impresses even heavier the weight of emotion Mirror Reaper works with. Even in the lengthy minimalist passages late in the composition, the band gracefully and gradually lead us through highly emotive territory, with near perfect segues into organ passages, before driving forward to a cyclic, cathartic close.

Few albums can respectfully represent an emotion with as much legitimate weight and personal circumstance so seamlessly woven in. While its surface length and ponderous nature warns off casual listeners, the passage through grief is not something that comes fast, and as a eulogy to Guerra and a gigantic slab of emotional ritual, you would be hard pressed to find a representation of grief as primal, cathartic and yes, as beautiful as Mirror Reaper.
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Tupan wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Renkls! Our huge-song expert! Welcome back!
UMUR wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Damn it´s nice to see you here Again. I´m looking forward to more of your specialty: Reviews of long track releases :-)
renkls wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Yeah, may get back into dropping some reviews around the place and catching up on several albums I haven't got the chance to. Need to flex my literacy before I lose the touch.
adg211288 wrote:
more than 2 years ago
renkls! Long time no see around here. Still drawn to the long songs I see. ;)

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