Review by Vladimir on April 24, 2023.

It’s time to travel all the way to The Netherlands, probably for the first time ever when it comes to reviewing a band from there. The band in question is Witte Wieven, a two-member atmospheric black metal band from Tilburg, formed in 2014. The band released their debut full-length album Dwaallicht on April 14th on vinyl and digital via Babylon Doom Cult Records. 

Our opener is 'Ontsponnen Uit De Diepte', which starts off with a calm clean guitar intro before suddenly kicking off with aggressively distorted guitars and drums, all the while the calm clean guitar part is still played in the background and the clean female vocals briefly appear. Although I was expecting to hear the beautiful female vocals again throughout the rest of the song, all of a sudden, a shrieking voice is heard echoing from a distance like a banshee in the forest. The song is predominantly focusing on clean guitar parts that resonate some emotions of wandering in despair, even with the aggressive tremolo riffing and shrieking vocals. The second track 'Koorddanser' features some female vocals on the very beginning that utter a single word with an echo effect. The first half of the song is just clean guitars, slow drums and female vocals, while the second half finally includes distorted guitars, shrieking vocals and even fast drums, giving the song somewhat of a two-faced approach with each half having a separate style, being both a beauty and a beast. The album’s closure is a live track 'Met Beide Benen In Het Niets', which for a live track sounds pretty good considering the fact that I was led to believe that it was just a regular studio track all the time until I heard the applause at the end. I must say that this is a bold decision because I don’t know if any other band closed their album with a live track rather than just a regular track recorded in a studio. The songwriting is mostly clean guitar sections with distorted guitar riffs, which shift the mood to a different direction, all the while keeping a very haunted and lonely feeling throughout the entire album. On an emotional level, the album feels like a tragic story of some spirit which wanders in the forest eternally, without a single clue of its past life and yet endures its lonesome existence. The band’s name which translates to “white women” from Dutch, which are spirits of wise women, probably reflects on that concept throughout the album’s entirety since its haunting nature is carried out in the musical output. As for the sound production, the clean and distorted guitar sound are both very good and outstanding, although the shrieking female vocals could have probably been a bit louder but it’s still quite solid. 

The album is an interesting and atmospheric experience, which doesn’t really have any specific words that would define its overall nature other than “hauntingly beautiful”. The musical output was indeed incredible and deserves to be checked out, especially if you’re really into modern sounding black metal bands that are atmospheric and ambient as well. 

Rating: 8.3 out of 10

Review by Mladen on November 24, 2023.

I'm getting weird flashbacks here. Although Root are a fairly well known Czech band, with decades of history behind them, I've never had a chance to hear them before. One spin, and it's like being subjected to King Diamond for the first time again. It's a really kick-ass band. The drums, guitars, the bass, all of them are experts. Heroes, no less. A darkened heavy metal band exactly knowing what to do and where to do it.

But the singer... what on Earth, is this man doing? Two or three more spins and I'm converted. Where the Hell has this been hiding until now?

Got to love Root, really. Although they apparently started as one of the original pre-second wave black metal bands, today they are quite a different beast. You might even call them progressive, although they aren't really trying it. It's just natural. If there's a need for a creepy, clean moment, it's there, but Root are equally good at building tension through various steps to high speed thrashing and back. Or just going from silent to swirling guitar wizardry in an instant. All the time staying deliberate, determined, grim and... honest.

One can take two approaches in trying to describe the music. You can either try to pointlessly describe the heaviness, count all the rhythm changes, all the sermon-like parts and all the ludicrous parts closing in on you. Or you can just say, "this is what Satanists do when they grow up (hint: they never fully do)."

Before I make another comparison, let me just say that the vocals have nothing to do with King Diamond whatsoever. But after discovering an unique band and feeling the same way as listening to the good old Church of Satan member, King Diamond, for the first time, it was quite curious to learn that Jiri "Big Boss" Valter was in fact the founder of the first Church of Satan in Czechoslovakia. Respect.

Even the sound on Daemon Viam Invenient could come as a surprise — it's real. Everything is clear and present. The drums have a real tone, the guitars haven't been subjected to any of the nowadays popular sound treatments. For a change, you're getting great guitar sound as played through a fine amplifier and without making exceptions for the other instruments. Talk about self-confidence. If you want to follow the bass lines, it's also possible (and sometimes very rewarding). To a listener accustomed to modern sounds, Root might even sound as a mis-match because there's a tiny bit of space between the instruments, preventing them to blend together. And it was a great choice, actually, because it's hard to imagine any "blend" of sounds getting along with those vocals...

Oh, those vocals. More flashbacks will follow when you hear Big Boss' — let's vaguely call it "baritone." Ever had nightmares of big, bald, evil priests coming at you and singing, caused by watching comedies with singing priests in them in your childhood? Errr, I guess you haven't. Neither have I, but that's the impression. The man is in a class of his own and he doesn't care. There's no excuse for those dramatic, theatrical, exaggerated vibratos, half-spoken, half-growled statements, screams, laughs and sighs.

Whatever you think Big Boss shouldn't really be trying to do — he does it. And gets away with it. You can simply feel he means it. Look at the guy — or his lyrics — and you'll KNOW he means it. To see a grown man going mad like this, in all possible directions, is just scary. Or laughable, but if that's the case you'll probably be laughing with him, not at him.

Ladies and gentlemen, if you think there's not enough adventure, danger, pride or madness in metal today — or you just can't be surprised any more — Root is the way to go... especially if you miss the days when you were entertained by someone actually older and crazier than you. Someone who knows something you don't.

Rating: 9 out of 10