Wiht - S/T EP

Wiht is a young band from Leeds in the UK and in case you are wondering Wiht translated means witch. Members of the band are Chris Wayper on guitar, Joe Hall on bass and Rick Contini on drums. The amazing thing about this new band is they only started jamming together in October 2009 and yet in such a short time have recorded a remarkable 3 track EP. There is two 16 minute tracks with a 9 minute track sandwiched in the middle so you get good value for your doom dollar here. From the sounds on the EP you can hear all the influences but they are wide and varied within the doom spectrum from Sleep, Weedeater, Electric Wizard to Boris, Sunn 0))) to Ufomammut. The first track "Into Ruin" starts off with a very Sleepish holy mountain era riff that serves as the backbone for the entire track but rather than just being repetitive, the track has a natural progression that keeps envovling keeping it interesting. It moves from plodding doom to spacey psychedelic sounds that produce a atmospheric vibe, there is what they call these days "shoegazeing parts". I would love to know where that term came from but it sounds right. The song builds up tension from the 10 minute mark onwards and there is no vocals but bands like these don't really need them. "Into The Ruins" comes to a quiet conclusion rather than doing a big crescendo ending, this band isn't predictable in that sense at all. "Vasta" has a chaotic beginning with crashing drums and a powerful riff before taking a stoner groove direction. There is more other worldly sounds that vibrate and generate a sometimes haunting sound but it is all interwoven by a strong stoner doom rhythm. A quieter almost Pink Floyd sounding section is follow by a mid-tempo thumping riff and its all held together by a great warm and rich bass sound. When the band slows right now they avoid the usual down tuned doom riffing and go for a more space rock ambient sound which sets them apart from most other bands. The track between these two is "And The Thunder Rolls" and is my favorite of the EP but only just because all three tracks are real good. The track gets off to a headbanging start before taking you on a almost jammy cosmic adventure. I say almost because the band is real tight but there is also a live feeling about this and "And The Thunder Rolls" is a perfect vehicle for this kind of music. The great element within this EP is the variety, the light and shade and the dynamic sound the band has. This band will get the "doom tag" from most people but they are really more of a space rock meets 70's hard rock/psyche rock band and that is not a bad thing at all. There is a couple of stand-out points about this debut EP, first one is the mind-blowing production and the second is the incredible talent of the players. In both cases its a winning formula that should get them not only great reviews but should generate some interest from promoters. This band would go down real well at Roadburn, i can see them now jamming out a 2 hour set backed up by a trippy light-show. The lack of a vocalist might throw some people but personally i think they are a band that can live without one. If they do decide to get a vocalist in the future, i hope they choose wisely because they wouldn't want to mess with the natural chemistry they already have. You can download this EP for free so what are waiting for, check their page for details. 9/10

www.myspace.com/wihtleeds