Doom metal works with fewer notes at a time than thrash or death metal, so the key to its emotional power is to pour everything you’ve got into each one. Bell Witch do just that in Mirror Reaper’s quiet moments, which are more abundant than their previous albums, and also in its loud ones, where Shreibman lurches forward one kick of the bass drum at a time and Desmond carves mournful leads out of his extra wide fretboard.
All of Bell Witch’s music is about death in one way or another, but Mirror Reaper represents a different kind of immersion with it.
Mirror Reaper very nearly reaches the heights/depths of Four Phantoms. One of the most exceptional qualities of Bell Witch is, despite the many aching ways they find to describe death’s sting, the band does not appear to intend to drag listeners down to the grave. That is a significant distinction, as a number of critically and commercially successful heavy metal bands are currently pushing deeper into Nihilism and Satanism.
Mirror Reaper is certainly an outstanding accomplishment in the Bell Witch catalogue. It may be their most emotionally stirring and musically ambitious record to date.
Were Mirror Reaper trimmed in the right places, it would compliment some of the outstanding moments that are present throughout. Instead, said moments are flashes of brilliance lost in a sea of noise.
Mirror Creeper (aw man)
Thanks to @UltimateLifeFrm and @Brando, this project came to my sight and immediately caught my attention. The brilliant cover art, the "Funeral Doom Metal" genre, and also the fact that it's only one song, that song being 83 minutes long. I was very curious to see what this was like.
I also found out about the backstory, how this project is pretty much a tribute to their late drummer who passed away before. They even used some of his leftover vocals. Knowing ... read more
Shoutout to @Gustav, thanks so much for this recommendation!
Funeral doom metal... sounds quite morbid, doesn't it? I'm slowly getting myself further & further into these subgenres of the metal scene and I'm honestly loving what I'm hearing in terms of its raw aesthetics and the slow burning dread that develops.
In the case of Mirror Reaper, Seattle-based metal band Bell Witch have created one of the most agonising, haunting and emotional pieces of doom metal I've heard, which serves as a ... read more
This is just one devastating album.
This is the third album by Bell Witch, who I have definitely heard about before, mostly about this album. This album was the first album they have made since the death of their drummer Adrian Guerra and, in respect to their memory, they reserved a section for him featuring unused vocal tracks from the last album that they made before this according to their BandCamp and serves as a tribute to him.
One of the reasons why I have heard about this one was cause ... read more
hmmmmm
was pretty excited to get into this, i really love long ass drony shit (Dopesmoker, Black one, Earth 2, etc) but i feel pretty mixed about this album's repetition...
sometimes it's extremely beautiful and transcendental, but sometimes its just redundant and irritating... idk maybe i need to let it grow on me
still worth a listen!
Random Selection Entry #19
I won't lie in the fact that I chose to listen to Mirror Reaper only because of the 83-minute song. However, what an experience I went through. Bell Witch seems to me like a funeral doom-metal band that keeps their long compositions interesting while holding back enough to deliver an impactful ascension of the ears. Despite the intimidation of the runtime, the fuse of doom and post-metal is quite an intriguing listen to put you in a gloomy mood. Also, politely, fuck ... read more
1 | Mirror Reaper 83:15 | 93 |
#11 | / | Decibel |
#13 | / | The A.V. Club |
#32 | / | Bandcamp Daily |
#41 | / | Treble |
#45 | / | Tiny Mix Tapes |
#47 | / | State |