Led by guitarist Ben McLeod, the quartet forged an opus brimming with Zeppelin-esque blues-rock tones, Sabbath-like doomy textures, and spacey interludes a la Pink Floyd and Porcupine Tree. Singer Charles Michael Parks, Jr. added sonorous vocals, reveling in apocalyptic storytelling and anxious diarism.
With House of Mirrors, All Them Witches further draw from those fertile 70s templates, the album opening on a high note: “Red Rocking Chair” oscillates between gossamer verses and choruses marked by monster riffs. Parks alternately resembles a roadhouse wizard and a cavalier Jim Morrison circa Absolutely Live. “Culling Line”, too, makes use of soft-loud juxtapositions, the band employing delicate accents and choppy riffs. McLeod offers a restrained yet moving solo. If Ideal showed All Them Witches striving to establish a signature presence, Mirrors is more openly emulatory, the band’s influences creatively reconfigured but rarely transcended.
On “Starting Line”, Parks entertains how the all-for-one commitment can fall to the wayside when one is presented with a me-or-him situation (“better you than me buddy / falling back to the starting line”). The band again move between stark verses (shimmery guitars) and eruptive choruses (walloping progressions), demonstrating their knack for buildups, dynamic transitions, and intriguing interplays.
All Them Witches similarly share their talent for pacing and composition
via “The Welterweight”. A gossamer opening feeds into a moodily
atmospheric section. Drummer Christian Powers pivots from light hits to
heavier and aggressive grooves. Parks touches on themes of passed-down
trauma (“my fear of the sky is inherited”) and being youthfully reckless
(“I shot for the moon and flew through the sun”). Throughout, he also
alludes to a central character, the boxer, who plays the role of friend,
confidante, and guardian angel. The track is alluringly mysterious –
sonically and lyrically.
“Aethernet” is a specific nod to the traditional 12-bar
structure. McLeod cycles through tones that remind one of Roy Buchanan,
Jack White, and a speed-fueled Derek Trucks. The anchoring riff on
“Angel on the Wayside” conjures a cross between Jimmy Page circa “Black
Dog” and Tres Hombre-era Billy Gibbons. “Turn on the Light” is a
relatively buoyant take, McLeod’s riffs cleaner, his runs playful.
Parks’ voice is slightly upbeat, even as he voices his confusion
regarding modern life and love.
While House of Mirrors doesn’t achieve the vision and scope of Ideal,
it brims with fervour, prowess, and technical skill, the band
navigating, as expected, exhilarating riffs, riveting solos, and
galvanic rhythms. All Them Witches, along with such bands as Graveyard, Dommengang,
and Black Mountain, among others, continue to mine the diverse genre of
blues-based and blues-timbred rock – the gestalts that keep on giving.
