01. Suffer In Life
02. Deal With The Devil
03. Swarming Flies
04. Sea Of Lies
05. Behind The Veil
06. Diggin In The Dirt
07. Last Great Wilderness
Hmm, what’s the English equivalent for *drolling*? Hmm, I’d say “transcendant”. How about “groin grabbingly transcendent”?
I’ve never been the biggest adherer to the idea of first impressions being so important, often dismissing it in the same vein as how those who ascribe to it equally dismiss things quickly out of hand. One of the few times I’ve been made to eat humble pie in this regard is my introduction to Scottish doomsters King Witch, a band who stamped a lasting impression on my alcohol-soaked brain way back in 2021 at Bloodstock. Such was the positive impression that when I saw the band were releasing a new album, it became one of my most anticipated releases of the year. Having listened to it, my anticipation was more than rewarded with what is easily one of the best albums of the year. III may not be the most memorable name for an album, but the bland name is the opposite of what is contained therein. Led by the powerful, yet hypnotic vocals of Laura Donnelly, King Witch produce some of the finest doom to come out in 2025 that doesn’t require an RTX to run.
Thanks to an ability to sound contemporary while simultaneously pressing the nostalgia button in your brain, III feels like an album that recalls classic rock/doom without sounding like they’re merely retreading long trampled ground. Pairing solid songwriting with performances akin to some of the greats in the genre, King Witch create a potent mix that will likely make fans out of whoever listens to them.
III is packed full of guitar performances that harken back to the 70s, when it seemed you could pick an album at random and hear guitar heroics that would melt your mind. Jamie Gilchrist’s guitarwork across the album feels very much in this vein, in no small part thanks to an organic tone that is so rich and vibrant it feels like it is being played live in front of you. From the groove of “Behind The Veil”, to the riff and solo work on “Deal With The Devil” or “Diggin In The Dirt”, III is an album that will appeal to guitar fans as much as doom fans. The latter has such a ‘dog straining at the leash’ vibe to it that it will get your blood pumping one way or the other. As mentioned prior, Donnelly’s hypnotic and powerful vocals push the materials to that next level; from crooning to screaming on “Sea Of Lies”, to the purely emotive a la “Little Witch”, her performance across the record provides many of the highlights contained within.
If there was something III could do better, it is to be packaged in a plastic wrap, as I have pretty much verbally drooled all over it thus far. One or two small niggles would be that “Suffer In Life” is a poor choice of opener, as, alongside “Sea Of Lies”, it is one of the two weaker cuts on the album. Neither are particularly bad, but when the rest of the album is soaring like a firework high into the sky, these two seem more like a drunk person with sparklers climbing a very high tree; it’s got altitude, but not in the same range as surrounding tracks.
Rewarding the patience of fans who have waited five years for their next release, King Witch far exceed expectations, and deliver an album that will likely find regular rotation for the foreseeable future.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 5 |
| Production: | 8 |
 | Written on 10.06.2025 by Just because I don’t care doesn’t mean I’m not listening. |