Doom behemoths Witchsorrow have arrived with their ten ton self titled debut album and if you like your metal slow and mournful, then look no further. We couldn't pass up the chance to catch up with two thirds of the UK's hottest Doom band. 

Emily: We’re happy to be called ‘doom metal’ really. It’s a pretty traditional ‘doom’ sound – slow, heavy and oppressive – but there is also a metal influence too, which rears its head from time to time.

The bands overall sound is unquestionably traditional Doom Metal, which members bring what influences to the band?

Emily: We all love doom in various guises, which is why we sound like we do, but there are also more traditional metal and NWOBHM influences too, which again we all share. Black metal is also an influence, which perhaps doesn’t come through so overtly in the music, but I think doom and black metal share quite a bit in terms of atmosphere, and often the bare bones of doom and black metal riffs are pretty similar, which I think is really interesting. Morrellhammer is also in a more hardcore/sludge/punk band too, so he probably brings an element of that kind of style to the band, though it’s not too overt in our music, I don’t think.

Emily: Normally it starts with a riff – either Necroskull or myself will bring a couple of riff ideas to practice, and we’ll play them through as a band, jam them out a bit and add various bits until the song comes together. It can be a slow process, but it makes sure we all have a contribution to the song. In a couple of cases songs have come to practice more fully-formed, but we all still add our own stamp. Lyrics usually come last of all, and Necroskull and I share those duties, just depending on who’s inspired or has a good idea at the time.

Emily: Some of it’s historical, based on books, films or local history. Some is more allegorical, using those kinds of themes to tell a more contemporary or personal story (which I think people don’t always ‘get’), but using that kind of mythical, folkloric language to paint a more interesting and universal picture, which sits more comfortably with the music. I think it’s important that people can take the lyrics for what they are if they choose, read things into them, or apply their own meanings.

Your debut album has been released on Rise Above Records, how did the deal with these guys come about?

Necroskull: It was something we’d been talking about for a while before we actually recorded anything. Lee Dorrian saw us and said he’d be interested in putting something out, and when we were ready he did exactly that.

How thrilled were you with signing with such an established ‘Doom’ label?

Necroskull: I’m really happy about it. It feels good to be counted among bands like Electric Wizard, and to get the thumbs up from Lee Dorrian. There wasn’t really a celebratory moment, because it was something that got talked about for a while and then just sort of ‘became’ a reality, there wasn’t really a eureka moment.

The album was recorded at Foel Studios with producer Chris Fielding. How long did it take to record the whole album?

Necroskull: We were at Foel for just under a week, and we did all the recording in 4 days. It was pretty fast going, actually, we just had to get in and get stuff done, so we didn’t have the time to sit around picking at things. Fortunately Chris is an absolute genius, and he knew what we were after from the minute he heard us play. He was an absolute pleasure to work with, and I can’t give him enough credit.

Emily: It was an amazing place, really inspiring, and a great place to be totally focused on the task in hand – there are no distractions when the nearest village is 15 minutes drive away! Although the songs were pretty much complete when we got there, I still think the vibe of the place did add to the finished songs. Necroskull and I love really remote, rural places so it was perfect. I think Morrellhammer, who’s more of an urban creature, started to get a bit of cabin fever by the end of our time there, but also appreciated its charms (although not the numerous cats, like I did!)

Necroskull: I absolutely loved it. It’s really isolated and miles away from anything, which was perfect for making music without distraction, and just in general I liked being there. I’m not much of a fan of cities, crowds or “the fast lane”, so to be somewhere so out of the way was wonderful. As Emily says, the songs were all done, but I think there was definitely something about feeling so cut off from ‘normal’, every day life that did something for the record.

How pleased were you with the finished album, was it what you’d have hoped for verses your expectation prior to recording it?

Emily: I think we were especially pleased with how ‘The Agony’ came into its own in the studio. It was our newest song at the time, so I think it was the song that we were happiest to develop a bit, and we were really pleased with the end result.

Necroskull: I wasn’t really sure what to expect, because I’d never been into a recording studio before, apart from as an observer. In the weeks before we went I was having a bit of a freak out about it because I didn’t really understand much about how studios work and I was listening to music going, ‘Shit, are they expecting us to be as good as these bands?’. I really like it, though, and I’m immensely proud of the songs on there. It’s a learning experience, though, so for next time we’ll be a bit more prepared in the writing stages for what happens in the studio, I think.

The album has a real old school Doom vibe cover, very Penance / Revelation. How did this concept come about?

Funnily enough, when we were talking about the sleeve, I sent the cover of Salvation’s Answer by Revelation to the designer to give him an idea of what I’m after, so well spotted! We actually had a different idea to begin with, a similar vibe, but there were some problems with the image. The designer knocked up some rough versions of ideas he’d had and we saw the one we used and immediately went, ‘That one!’. It’s from a load of paintings of Dante’s Inferno. There’s something about the guy cutting off his own head and the people crying that really speaks to me. It’s like a more extreme version of cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Necroskull: None at the moment, sadly. There’s talk of a few things, but it’s quite hard to organise, both in terms of actually getting the gigs, and arranging ourselves so we can actually do it. I’d like to, though. We’ll see what the future brings.

Necroskull: Playing live is one of the things I enjoy the most. It’s a bizarre thing quite unlike anything else you do, where you really do feel like you’re doing something really special. I enjoyed recording, and I like writing songs in the practice room, but for me it’s all secondary to playing songs live, really loud, where you feel like you’re breathing fire and you’ve got lightning bolts coming out of your fingers.

I can only assume Witchsorrow is not self supporting financially a moment, so how difficult is it to juggle work / band commitments?

Emily: You’re quite right – we all work full-time so it’s a bit of a juggling act, and often means things take a while to happen with us. We also live about an hour away from each other so there’s always a certain amount of travelling, which can add further difficulties! It’s sometimes hard to even sort out practices, let alone anything else! However, I think it probably makes us work harder when we do get together. Having the band as an escape from everyday life is also something we all appreciate!

Necroskull: As Emily says, it’s quite a job to get anything happening for us, but I think that’s good in the long run. It gives us time to reflect on what the band is, what we want to do, what we want the music to be like, without actually playing it. We can build up the image of what we want in our minds so that when it comes to doing anything, we’re focused on it.

Doom music has morphed over recent years and splintered off into drone & sludge & stoner, the list goes on and on. What do you think of all these sub-genres and are you at all concerned by being tagged Doom metal?

Necroskull: Far from concerned, it’s a flag that we wave with pride! The other sub-genres all have pretty cool bands in them, like Moss, although I don’t keep up with the happenings in those as readily as I do with doom and black metal. There are times watching sludge or drone bands where it’s a lot of feedback and whatnot and you just want them to get on with it, but the same is true in any style of music.

As an obvious lover of St.Vitus, I have to ask, what are your thoughts on the reformation of Dave, Wino and Adam? Do you think they should record new material or should this be a one off touring event?

Necroskull: Well, Emily and I have seen two of the reunion shows, and they were both killer, so it’s a big thumbs up from us. It’s not like some reunions, where there’s a couple of them who clearly work in a bank and have a smart haircut. Dave Chandler’s still a bit crazy! If they were going to write new stuff, I reckon it’d be pretty good, although I think the magic might stay more potent if they left the Vitus catalogue with the albums we’ve already got and we all just had to imagine what a new one would be like.