Witchcraft
Nucleus

We last heard from them in 2012 with "Legend," overall a good album, though for some, the drift towards a more metallic and Pelander-oriented style was too much. For those who found issues with that album, "Nucleus" will only increase their doubts.

The Witchcraft emerged from one of the rock/metal/doom/stoner/revival scenes, call it what you will, that have been most popular in the last decade. Their "cousins" Graveyard disbanded some time ago, and they released their fifth studio album in January 2016, which, truth be told, somewhat flew under the radar.

Let's get to the point without dwelling too much on the band's past and their role in the Swedish scene. Most people care little about that. So what does this "Nucleus" have? It has the heaviness of everything that made someone upset about "Legend": the sound is further cleaned up (ah, the miracles of Nuclear Blast) and farewell to the basement authenticity of their smelly and eponymous debut. The guitars take a definitive front seat and much of the folk impulses find no room, except sporadically. Over everything rises Magnus Pelander's voice, easily recognizable and with great "theatrical" interpretative skills: the problem is that in this case, the vocal lines seem designed more to satisfy Pelander's flourishes than to adapt to the song's architecture. The result is some songs that painfully spin without leaving much impact, like the lackluster instrumental part of "An Exorcism of Doubts" or Pelander's monologue over guitars that say nothing in "The Obsessed". There seems to be a lack of inventiveness, but in truth, it goes in phases because the opener "Malstroem" is of rare epic grandeur, "The Outcast" works great by mixing rhythms and genres, while "Helpless" manages to work as a dark ballad with a Nordic flavor reminiscent of fellow countrymen Candlemass. With Edling's group, these Witchcraft seem much closer than before, particularly due to the predominance of ever more doomy and abrasive riffs.

In the end, it can be said that "Nucleus" carries some problems already shown by "Legend" and reiterates how Witchcraft's course seems increasingly towards a general heaviness of the sound. The softening serves to outline an increasingly massive sound structure but also increasingly reliant on Pelander's voice, almost as if to validate those who have previously claimed that Witchcraft is turning into some sort of additional solo project of the singer. Thus, an album in half. But at least they haven't ended up like Graveyard.