ninehertz

Birdwitch is a name that crops up on the doom underground wires increasingly, part of the stirring in East Anglia, a burgeoning scene and a real sense of a vibrant region for our genre down there.

They self-describe as dreamviolence and doomgaze, and as the EP opens those bastardised genre combinations are at full play, evident in the ambitious opening track Stumbled. The vocals are ethereal over post-metal guitars, a bite arriving later on. It’s good but it doesn’t bring the varying elements together seamlessly, you can occasionally the gaps and the glue.

That’ll no doubt come – the encouragement to be found in the early signs of aiming for individuality is more than enough not to be dampened by any slight missteps in achieving it. And the EP gets stronger as it goes too. Starling follows, progressive and almost gothic doom, the guitars becoming sharper, the vocals turning blacker by its end.

The lyrics are personal and intriguing. Disingenuous appears to be a tale of a toxic former friend or partner, the words a scathing critique of the recipient’s seemingly abhorrent behaviour. The vocal delivery is understandably angrier here, and you can really feel it. Section 21 is named after eviction notices and is visceral once again, fierce vocals and a doom sound that inches towards atmospheric or post-black metal regions.

It is well constructed, and the EP overall is progressive and mature beyond the band’s years. Yes, there were some small flaws early on but not only did the overriding class of the songs make them easy to ignore, they largely dissipated anyway. As an early marker, Birdwitch have succeeded, and their reputation will surely only grow from here.