Witch Fever @ Bodega

Generally, the quality of any gig is directly proportional to how angry and politically charged the band or artist is. And if we are to use this index, as we ought to, then we must reach the obvious conclusion that Witch Fever continue to be one of the most underrated bands in their scene. The Manchester doom metal outfit kicked off their UK & European tour of their new album, Fevereaten, at the Bodega and demonstrated the veracity of this correlation beyond doubt. The Mic's Ed Dyer reports.

After an extensive arena tour with Danish band Volbeat, the band announced a much-anticipated headline tour of the UK and Europe, which was a must-go for anyone who had this band on their radar. Witch Fever seemed to be heading in a more sonically-emotive, poignant direction with this new album, as opposed to the Reincarnate EP and their debut album Congregation, which had a much more angsty, punk-metal fusion to it, but rest assured that none of the heavy-hitting instrumentation has disappeared from their live performances. The index is well and truly thriving.

I managed to catch the second support band of the night, Cowboy Hunters, a Glaswegian punk duo who delivered an absolutely electrifying performance. Charismatic, loud, abrasive. If I may refer once more to the all-knowing index I have previously set out, naturally, these two were brilliant. I had gone into their set blind, completely unaware of what to expect, and was completely won over by songs such as “Gemma”, “Have A Pint”, and their absolutely blistering cover of “Perfect (Exceeder)” by Mason. For fans of Soft Play, Soapbox, or Lambrini Girls, you should definitely be looking into this up-and-coming machine of Scottish rage.

After the previous set, the crowd, most likely confused as to why other people’s mouths were moving but no sound was coming out, waited excitedly, in eager anticipation for the headliners to exacerbate that problem. Always wear earplugs. Any band worth their salt will do their very best to make sure you’re punished if you don’t. Witch Fever took to the stage, opening with the lead single from their new album, “DEAD TO ME!”, a fantastic tone-setter for the night. The ominous riff to build the tension, Amy Walpole’s entry on stage, the hypnotic vocals – all building up to the gut-punching chorus.

Unfortunately the drummer, Annabelle Joyce, was suffering from the latest of many catastrophes which Witch Fever tend to have whilst on tour. However, without this being pointed out to the crowd, I doubt anyone would have noticed, as the band were nonetheless able to deliver each song with unrelenting brute force. This did mean that staple tracks in the band’s repertoire, “Reincarnate” and “Blessed Be Thy”, had to be omitted from the set.

Highlights of the set were “Congregation”, the title track of – and one of the best songs from – their debut album, which I was extremely pleased to see had stuck around. This was followed by “SAFE” which, for me, was the best song of the set. The consistently fantastic vocal performances of Walpole shone through throughout the set, especially in this song alongside the chugging riffs for the chorus at, “I was safe! // wrapped in the touch you once meant”, all before the eventual closer of “I SEE IT”, the final track on their new album, which does just as good a job at concluding their live set as it did in the album.

Witch Fever continue to serve up some of the best contemporary doom metal, both live and in studio, almost 10 years after the release of their first single, which is some feat considering how difficult it is for smaller bands to survive in the modern climate of the music industry. However, amongst the various evil forces that prevent bands like this from being able to live off their art, left-wing rage thrives and is stronger than ever; we salute Witch Fever for bestowing upon us another outlet for it.

Ed Dyer

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Edited by Isabelle Tu

Photos courtesy of Ed Dyer