The Norwegian trio Purple Hill Witch (Kristian-g, v; Andreas-b, and Øyvind-d) was formed in 2011, and their 7”EP Alchemy was received with open arms within the Doom-underground. They were recently signed by The Church Within Records, and they now release their self-titled debut full length, which lasts for forty seven minutes.
The Purple Hill Witch-album unfortunately can’t impress me that much. What this band does is paying tribute to the likes of Black Sabbath, Coven, Thin Lizzy, Pentagram, Witchfinder General, Trouble or Jethro Tull, with every single existing cliché on the foreground. This band has not an own identity, not do they come with the variation that might be necessary when performing this kind of Doom Epic. Is it bad then? No, it certainly is not! Most of the compositions are nice to listen at, and personally I do appreciate the few Saint Vitus-oriented solos, the sabbathesque rhythm section, and so on. I am just enormously disappointed by the total lack of additional supremacy (read: the shameless copycat-attitude), and the very simplistic constructions.