SPELLBOOK (stylized SpellBook) is a Stoner/Doom band out of Pennsylvania. Some people might debate the subgenre designation, but if your band sounds that much like SABBATH and you theme your albums around the occult and horror, well yeah, there's just no escaping it. SPELLBOOK was once known as WITCH HAZEL, but they wisely shifted to SPELLBOOK after 2018. Nothing wrong with the previous moniker, just too many bands with the same name. As SPELLBOOK, the band has released two full-length albums - "Magick & Mischief" back in the year of our plague, 2020, and "Deadly Charms" more recently on September 23, 2022, both via Cruz Del Sur Music. The album includes nine tracks, including a short intro. It has a full runtime of 42:15 and is a total blast all the way through.

I have to admit I find Nate Tyson's vocals distracting - at least at first. The resemblance to Ozzy is just way too obvious. And that isn't a bad thing, it's just there. For me it takes all of 30 seconds to adjust and then I can put aside my biases, good and bad, and take SPELLBOOK for themselves.

There are several things to love about this band; First is the twin guitar attack. The riffs intertwine and flow with infectious groove; Second, the songwriting is surprisingly complex. Not complex as in Prog proportions, but complex as in multiple movements and exploration of themes. Tracks like "Her Spectral Armies," "Deadly Charms," and "Night of the Doppelganger," for instance, delve and explore into some interesting spaces. Third, we'll circle back to Nate Tyson. The resemblance to Ozzy is superficial. His range and power are striking, and he has no problem belting or chopping. Impressive stuff.

Thematically, the album focuses on dark narratives centered on a number of grim events such as witch trials and demonic possession as well as grim figures, real and imagined, such as reputed witch doctor Nelson Rehmeyer and doppelgangers. There are also vampires, foreboding goddesses, and ghost armies. Yeah, so we'll go with dark. The album cover, rendered by David Thiérrée, duly reflects the album's theme and ups the intensity scale to 11.

Standout tracks, at least in my book, are "Rehmeyer's Hollow," "Pandemonium," "The Witch of Riley Creek," and "Deadly Charms." As far as regrets, I probably could have done without "Out for Blood"-just a little too sappy for my tastes, but to each his own. Altogether, another impressive offering from SPELLBOOK.