Witches - Salem (1692 vs. 2001)
[Black Lodge Records]

Going out and creating your own metal album is tough… especially when you are but one person with your eyes set on extreme music glory. You have to be able to play guitar, bass, drums, and possibly keyboards, and you need to play them proficiently. There is no room in underground metal for a lack of skill. You also need to be able to compose good music; sorry, but perpetual blasting does not a good metal album make. And even if you can compose music and play it, you still need to record it, or find someone to record it for you. And that's not to mention the artwork and packaging. So when a musician comes around who does all three (music, production, and graphics), and does them well… that's saying something. So I can't help but hold great respect for Marcus H. Madigan on his second release under the Elvira Madigan name: "Witches – Salem (1692 vs. 2001)."

Despite the slightly cheesy band name and the similarly cheddar album cover, "Witches" isn't all that bad. The music dwells in the shadows between doom and black metal, sounding at times like Cradle of Filth or even Emperor, and other times bearing a striking resemblance to Opeth's more ambient aspects. Eight of the album's 15 tracks are instrumental, and those vocals that are present run the gamut from harsh shrieks to cleanly-sung melodic lines (albeit somewhat under mixed). Lyrics are in English and Swedish, and track titles add Latin into the mix. There are acoustic guitars, heavily distorted guitars, and synths. And… a drum machine. Now, I have to confess to being biased against drum machines, especially those that are intentionally inhuman-sounding. Elvira Madigan's electronic percussion could be a little better mixed, and some of the blasts are just a bit too fast to sound playable by a real drummer, but overall, it's tolerable.

The entirety of "Witches" is a concept album. In the words of Madigan himself, "Witches is a standing monument in remembrance of the women whom in many thousands were slain upon pyres throughout medieval Europe." It spans from 1232 to the present day, with the common theme of religious persecution, the black arts, blasphemy, et cetera… typical black metal subject matters.

Marcus Madigan does an excellent job here; for an unknown musician creating his own music, producing it, and conceptualizing it, "Witches" is surprisingly good. It doesn't break too much new ground, but it does come across as being more symphonic than your typical gothic black metal. And thankfully, most songs come across as being fairly unique, and memorably different from other songs. But at the same time, the album has a strong sense of unity, and flows from beginning to end as if it were one song. Over all, "Witches" is well-played and well-designed.

If Cradle of Filth were to replace Adrian with a drum machine and record an album with half as much vocals as usual, it would probably sound something like Elvira Madigan's "Witches – Salem (1692 vs. 2001). This work should appeal to fans of black metal or doom (or dark, gothic music in general), but those metal fans who abhor drum machines may want to think twice before picking this one up. Overall, this is the sort of metal album that grows on you. It promises bigger and better things to come from future Elvira Madigan releases. It's quite possible that Marcus H. Madigan will turn out to be the next Galder. And while this isn't the best album I've heard this year, I have to admit to be looking forward to future Elvira Madigan releases.