Band:	Satanic Witch
Album:	4:44
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	December 2023

01. 4:44
02. Mirror Hour
03. Kult
04. For None
05. Mirage/ Die Hexen
06. So Below

The Wolvennest crew have been busy recently; in the last 5 years, they’ve put out 3 full albums, an EP, and a quasi-album as The Nest. However, it seems that some of the musicians behind the project still aren’t fully satisfied, as they’ve gone off to form Satanic Witch with the dual vocalists of E-L-R.

Her True Nature, the recorded version of the commissioned performance that was The Nest, very much kept in line with Wolvennest’s sound, despite all the guest vocalists. Additionally, when I reviewed Vexier, the most recent album from E-L-R, I noted that the instrumentation bore a notable resemblance to Wolvennest and their fellow Belgians in Amenra. With that all in mind, you’d probably expect 4:44, an album featuring the instrumental backbone of Wolvennest and the vocalists from E-L-R (plus Shaun Van Calster from Resistance (BEL)), to follow the example of Her True Nature and Vexier; however, as it turns out, Satanic Witch (which, like The Nest, is a commissioned project, debuting at Desertfest Antwerp in 2023) is not just the latest incarnation of Wolvennest’s signature style.

Said style is a signature mainly due to how many different elements it fuses together; in his review of Her True Nature, Radu namedrops drone, krautrock, ritual ambient, doom and black metal. As 4:44 progresses, some of these other styles enter the equation, but first and foremost, it is the latter of these terms that is most relevant, as the prevailing sound on this debut album is black metal, and quite a menacing interpretation of it at that. Still, there is a doominess to passages of the record, and some melodic elements are integrated at times, such as the clean guitar leads in the moody conclusion of “Kvlt” and the softer sung vocals that contrast the harsh shrieks on “For None”.

To begin with, though, Satanic Witch focus on the black metal above all else, with the fierce “Mirror Hour”; comprising frozen tremolo guitars, harsh vocals that howl on the wind, and ominous ringing bells, the atmosphere here is bleak, and remains so as it slows down and becomes doomier in its closing minutes. In truth, “Mirror Hour” is the only song here that can really be referred to as pure black metal, as each of the subsequent tracks introduces its own flavour or contrast.

The easiest two to compare are the closing duo, “Mirage/Die Hexen” and “So Below”; the two longest songs on 4:44, they both open with several minutes of ominous synth-based scene-setting (of a fairly ambient nature with regard to the first song, of a slightly more gothic/horror persuasion in the latter), but both ultimately descend into blackened territory. Probably the biggest difference is how much of each song is dedicated to each sound; there’s a fairly even split in “Mirage/Die Hexen”, as the name might reflect, while “So Below” only really abandons the creepy synths and mantras in the final couple of minutes. “For None”, in contrast, is rooted in blackened riffs and blast beats throughout, but distinguishes itself from “Mirror Hour” by incorporating melodic singing that works nicely in tandem with the harsher croaks.

The only song that never really goes fully blackened is “Kvlt”, perhaps ironically given its name; the production, guitar tones and vocals owe something to black metal, but there’s more of a doom base to the track, and both the vocals and guitars incorporate clear melody. I feel this perhaps works to the song’s advantage; my overriding sentiment towards 4:44 is that it fails to consistently grab my attention in the way that either Wolvennest or E-L-R have previously managed, and I feel that quite a bit of that comes from the black metal on the album just not being all that captivating. However, when they incorporate the melodic vocals into the equation, or when they contrast the black metal with the ominous ambience as on the final two songs, they find a balance of sounds that begins to bear fruits.

As far as commissioned collaborations featuring Michel Kirby go, Satanic Witch doesn’t rival The Nest. However, despite muted beginnings, it ultimately grows into itself and delivers some intriguing sounds, and despite their length, the songs generally manage to avoid outstaying their welcome. Should Satanic Witch turn out to be more than a one-off, I feel that there’s potential there, but it’s perhaps not been fully realized at the first time of asking with 4:44.