WITCH RIPPER

Despite a name that implies an affiliation with bands that sing songs about bong hits and lysergic devilry, WITCH RIPPER are as far removed from generic stoner rock as ELECTRIC WIZARD are from being cheerful, sober Christians. One of the most ambitious and palpably progressive bands to emerge from the broader doom metal and desert rock realm, these Seattle residents make music that almost creaks under the weight of ideas pouring from their feverish brains. This was abundantly clear from 2023's "The Flight After the Fall": a triumphant sophomore effort that planted its victorious flag in territory previously explored by the likes of MASTODON and BARONESS, while also making purposeful inroads into the tones and textures of old-school prog and adventurous '70s hard rock. Sometimes psychedelic and always fearless, WITCH RIPPER certainly have plenty of stoner DNA to draw from, but what they do with it is thrillingly fresh and original. "Through the Hourglass" offers more of the same kaleidoscopic post-metal and imaginative bombast, but with an even greater eye for fine details. This is a huge, almost overwhelming piece of work, and an absurdly entertaining way to blast the wax from your ears.

After a woozy intro that drags the listeners backwards through a bewildering cloud of triumphant guitars, "The Portal" is skillfully booted open, revealing its many wicked secrets. This is elevated heavy metal with so much color and so many elegant dynamics that it frequently threatens to eat itself in a wild splurge of celebratory riff worship. Dense with melody but perpetually resistant to following an obvious path, WITCH RIPPER's songs are simultaneously elaborate and accessible. Frontman Curtis Parker switches from a raucous bark to strident and tasteful clean vocals, but it is the dazzling ensemble interplay underscoring his top lines that makes the sum of all these parts so much greater than the fuzzy average. Twin-leads collide in midair, over muscular, syncopated rhythms, with incendiary solos and dreamy pauses in the bedlam adding extra fuel to this band's endlessly impressive onslaught of heavy rock fire. It lasts for more than six minutes, but feels succinct and free of extraneous fat, with hooks that hang in the air like specters of the revered past. As the doorway into WITCH RIPPER's world swings wildly, the sheer quality of everything happening here is impossible to ignore.

Impressively, the other five songs here are all equally stunning. "Symmetry of the Hourglass" is a stirring, fluid collage of gritty riffs and flamboyant arrangements, with Parker losing his mind as each crescendo hits its mark. "Echoes and Dust" is stately, brutal and alive with doom metal might, but with a progressive undertow that intermittently whips the carpet away from under the listener's feet. The sheer number of great riffs here is outrageous, but every one of them contributes to an overall sense that WITCH RIPPER are operating intuitively and lost in the art of songcraft, rather than attempting to bulldoze us all with sheer belligerence. The most lavish song of all, "The Clock Queen", is simply magnificent, with acid-fried overtones and riffs that circle the abyss in true doom tradition. Not a second of its eight-minute-plus runtime is wasted, and each successive twist in the tale is executed with supreme efficiency. Similarly, both "Proxima Centauri" and "The Spiral Eye" are inspired and indulgent in equal measure; the former, a slow-burning and mellifluous study in crestfallen majesty, with tangible shades of OPETH that comes as a welcome surprise, and the latter, a nine-minute colossus that fills prog metal's expansive blueprint with so much richness and so many dark colors that WITCH RIPPER seem to be drifting into cerebral, post-NEUROSIS territory, with all the emotional resonances and soulful exhilaration that such a bold detour necessarily entails.

You can do a lot with guitars and a vivid imagination, and WITCH RIPPER are doing more than most. "Through the Hourglass" is their greatest creation yet, and undeniable proof that this band are something special. Play it loud and feel your mind expanding in real time.