If you still need some spaced-out heaviness after hearing Primitive Man's new 14-minute song, then have I got some good news for you. Bell Witch, the great deep-immersion Seattle doom duo, are back together with Erik Moggridge, the dark folk musician who records under the name Aerial Ruin. In 2020, Bell Witch and Aerial Ruin teamed up for Stygian Bough Volume I, a collaborative album that met every possible definition of the term "spaced-out heaviness." Now, they're doing it again.
As the title of that first album implied, there was still plenty of room to expand on Stygian Bough. In 2023, Bell Witch followed the first Stygian Bough with Future’s Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine, an album that was just one single 83-minute track. They started another series before they finished the first, but now they've once again joined forces with Aerial Ruin, and Stygian Bough, Vol. II comes out next month.
Bell Witch and Aerial Ruin recorded Stygian Bough, Vol. II with seasoned underground metal producer Billy Anderson. It's only four songs, but you better believe all four of them are long. Opening track "Waves Became The Sky" clocks in at 12 minutes. Don't look at the clock while it's playing. Just let it wash over you. The song's riffs are slow and heavy and deeply satisfying, and the vocals are beautiful, reverb-drenched folk harmonies that fit the mood eerily well. Check it out below, along with the tracklist and the upcoming European tour dates from Bell Witch and Aerial Ruin.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Waves Became The Sky"
02 "King Of The Wood"
03 "From Dominion"
04 "The Told And The Leadened"
TOUR DATES:
1/26 - Warsaw, Poland @ Voodoo *
1/27 - Wroclaw, Poland @ Łącznik *
1/28 - Brno, Czech Republic @ Kabinet Muz *
1/29 - Vienna, Austria @ Arena *
1/30 - Munich, Germany @ Feierwerk *
1/31 - Dresden, Germany @ Club Pushkin *
2/01 - Munster, Germany @ Sputnikhalle *
2/03 - Paris, France @ Backstage By The Mill *
2/05 - London, UK @ The Dome *
2/06 - Newcastle, UK @ Cluny *
2/07 - Glasgow, UK @ Stereo *
2/08 - Sheffield, UK @ Corporation *
2/09 - Manchester, UK @ Rebellion *
2/10 - Birmingham, UK @ Hare & Hounds *
2/12 - Brussels, Belgium @ Magasin 4 *
2/13 - Nijmegen, Netherlands @ Doornroosje *
2/14 - Hannover, Germany @ Cafe Glocksee *
* with 40 Watt Sun
Stygian Bough Vol. II is out 11/14 on Profound Lore. Read our 2020 feature on the first Stygian Bough here.
