WITCHORIOUS is the Doom Metal trio we all deserve. They hail from Paris, France. On February 16, 2024 they dropped their self-titled debut full-length on Argonauta Records. They formed five years ago, releasing a two-track EP, delightfully titled “The Haunted Tapes,” in 2020. Neither of those tracks appear on their latest release, so a heads-up to the completionists out there. And, yes, this band is definitely good enough to warrant hunting down all their releases.

I can’t say there is anything extraordinarily innovative about WITCHORIOUS, the band or the album, but there is something that is undeniably compelling about them both. They aren’t disturbingly evil, but they are dark. They aren’t perfect in their adherence to the Doom mold, but they also aren’t far flung in their exploration of the in between spaces. Lucie and Paul make up a great rhythm team—almost like they were brother and sister . . . which they are. Antoine’s performance on guitar is more impressive than his vocals, but his vocals are pretty good—which is a backwards way of saying his guitar work is kind of bad ass. Lucie’s vocals mostly feature as background—the exceptions being “Eternal Night” and “To The Grave”—which adds a nice haunting texture to the entire album. Will be interesting to see if she features more prominently on future releases.

“Witchorious” runs at an impressive 57 minutes across ten tracks. Standout tracks are “Eternal Night” which puts Lucie in the vocal spotlight, but I also love how this track swells from almost mellow to crushing; “The Witch” with Antoine breaking out like Godzilla gone goth; the final track, “Why,” with its stunning solo; and “To the Grave,” an acoustic, mellow track which at first I hated but after about two listens, it crept into my soul and I haven’t been able to shake it since.  The only track I failed to buy into was “Amnesia,” which plays like an interlude for a Black Metal album. Mostly atmospheric feedback. Would have been more interesting if there was a clear unifying theme that it played into or if it broke up two disparate movements.

Production values are great, especially for a debut. Songwriting and execution are more than solid. Even the album cover makes the grade—looks like a woodcut crafted in a style somewhere between mediaeval gothic and dark woodlands folk. All things considered, this is definitely an album to own and a band to watch. “Witchorious” by WITCHORIOUS, highly recommended.