Wooden Stake - Invoke The Ageless Witch (7") ...

Wooden Stake have been creating a buzz around the doom-metal underground lately and rightly so, the band is great. While other doom acts with female vocals like Jex Thoth or Blood Ceremony are still getting most of the attention, this band is much better than those two in my opinion. They are heavier and their songs have more depth to them but that is just what I hear and we could argue about that one forever. Bassist Vanessa Nocera handles all the vocals that range from grunts to a sinister melodic voice that has a pure organic 70's vibe about it. The other member of the band, Wayne Sarantopolous is a great musician with all his doom-influences in the right place. Wooden Stake are not original much at all, they follow the blueprint left by Black Sabbath and Pentagram right to the letter but their songs are infectious, atmospheric and reek of class.

There is two tracks and both are great. On side A they have "Invoke The Ageless Witch" which is typical of their style of occult-driven traditional proto 70's doom-metal. Turn it over for "At The Stroke of Midnight / Howl at The Devil" and you have the best of the two tracks but only just. What is great about Wooden Stake is they are similar to other bands in the female-fronted occult doom genre but where as the other bands sound thin and have a creaky, dusty old sound, Wooden Stake are really heavy with a nice thick sound and great hooks to top it all off. This is out on the new Irish label Sarlacc Productions who have done an incredible job on the packaging with a thick sleeve and 70g heavy black vinyl. The cover art by Daniel Troma Johnsson, back cover art by Eric "Rot" Engelmann and design / layout by Paul McCarroll is awesome to look at, too good just to file away in your record collection. This is essential if you are already a fan of the band but also a must have for doom purists............9/10
Wooden Stake @ Myspace