Longing (Bell Witch album)

Longing is the debut studio album by the Seattle-based doom metal band Bell Witch, released on November 13, 2012 through Profound Lore Records.[1] The album began Bell Witch's trend of slow, low, and mournful music for which the band would become known.[2]

Longing
Studio album by
ReleasedNovember 13, 2012
RecordedMay 2012
StudioSoundhouse and Airport Grocery Studios in Seattle, Washington
Genre
Length67:33
LabelProfound Lore Records
ProducerBell Witch
Bell Witch chronology
Demo 2011
(2011)
Longing
(2012)
Four Phantoms
(2015)

Critical reception

edit
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
MetalSucks     [3]
Pitchfork8.0[4]
PopMatters          [5]

Longing was met with generally positive reviews. Andy O'Connor of Pitchfork magazine praised the album's haunting, melancholic nature, and highlighted the vocals as particularly effective in evoking a bleak atmosphere.[4] Writing for PopMatters, Craig Hayes said, "Longing highlights just how far we can sink into mires of hopelessness, and the bittersweet beauty we find in such despair. Bell Witch strikes a superb balance between the vulnerability of painful remembrances and stentorian roars of sorrow."[5] Metal Injection's Cody Davis wrote, "Desmond and Guerra exchange vocals that mix between ghostly bellows and Gregorian-esque clean vocals throughout Longing in addition to bringing utterly leveling bass guitar and drums that flip the script on what qualifies to make heavy Doom Metal."[6] In MetalSucks' more lukewarm review of Longing, the album was lauded for its mood and slow pace, but was also recognized as difficult to approach and deliberately hard to listen to.[3]

Music

edit

The fourth track, "Beneath the Mask", features a section of dialogue from the film The Masque of the Red Death.

Track listing

edit
No.TitleLength
1."Bails (of Flesh)"20:41
2."Rows (of Endless Waves)"13:02
3."Longing (The River of Ash)"12:05
4."Beneath the Mask"5:54
5."I Wait"12:24
6."Outro"3:27
Total length:67:33

Personnel

edit

Credits adapted from Longing's liner notes.[7]

Bell Witch

  • Dylan Desmond – bass, vocals
  • Adrian Guerra – drums, vocals

Additional personnel

  • Erik Moggridge – guest vocals (2)
  • Chris Hanzsek – mastering
  • Brandon Fitzsimons – recording

References

edit
  1. ^ "Bell Witch – Longing". AllMusic. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  2. ^ "Bell Witch, Longing: If They Would Beach You". The Obelisk. 13 November 2012. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Rhombus, Emperor (14 November 2012). "Bell Witch's Longing: Slow and Deadly Wins the Race". MetalSucks. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  4. ^ a b O'Connor, Andy. "Bell Witch – Longing". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  5. ^ a b Hayes, Craig (3 March 2013). "Bell Witch: Longing". PopMatters. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  6. ^ Davis, Cody (27 May 2016). "Funeral Doom Friday: In Memoriam of Adrian Guerra, Bell Witch's Longing". Metal Injection. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  7. ^ Longing (Digital liner notes). Bell Witch. Profound Lore Records. 2017. PFL108. Retrieved July 8, 2018.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)