There is a certain smell to real doom. It is not sandalwood incense or boutique vinyl cleaner. It is cigarettes in a practice space, pawn shop tube amps, and a little swamp rot from the Memphis side of the state line. When it is real, it hits your chest first and your ears second. That is exactly the kind of punishment Jackson’s own Burnt Witch delivered when they rolled into The Zach Moonshine Show for a smoke soaked live interview and the world premiere of their single Bastard.
The band lineup these days is Dustin Morgan on vocals, James Castellaw on guitar, Matt Page on bass, and Myk Robinson behind the kit. Four guys who did not attend the museum of doom to learn how to act like a doom band. They just made the noise that was in their heads and let it go where it needed to go.
How Burnt Witch Came To Be
The origin story is charmingly unpretentious. Dustin and James cooked the idea up as a studio thing. James introduced Dustin to doom, Dustin got hooked, and the next thing you know a project becomes a band. Matt was pulled in because James had known him for nearly twenty years and at some point you have to stop pretending it is casual and just start a band.
The final puzzle piece showed up from an unexpected direction. Myk Robinson, a self described hermit and owner of Black Oak Productions, came to Tennessee Metal Devastation Music Fest on a press pass just to film bands. He was not a doom guy. Never had been. He caught Sun Mantra’s set, got curious, and next thing he knew he was auditioning for Burnt Witch on drums after answering a drummer wanted post online. He had learned drums years ago because every band he played in kept losing drummers. Old school problem solving at its finest.
The band gives direct credit to Tennessee Metal Devastation Music Fest for bringing the parts together. Funny how scenes actually work when people show up and participate.
Dialing Tone With Respect For The Ancestors
One topic that kept bouncing back in the interview was gear. Burnt Witch has done their homework. They talked fuzz, tubes, and most importantly doom tone culture. The band called out the Does It Doom channel several times as a resource for tone inspiration and pedal knowledge. Any guitarist who has chased the Electric Wizard or Sleep side of the force knows that the Does It Doom channel and pedal line are practically a textbook for modern doom tone. It was nice hearing younger doom bands say it out loud instead of pretending they invented fuzz last year.
That attention to tone shows up in the recordings. Bastard and Glass Eye hit heavy from two different angles. Bastard is a cinder block. Glass Eye has more motion and rotation. Both crush clean.
The secret weapon is Myk’s insistence on real acoustic drums recorded live in a room. No sample libraries. No trigger grid logic. Doom needs air moving or it just sounds like sludgy MIDI. Myk has a full drum tracking room at his house and teaches Reaper workflow online. He even has a drum editing course through Pro Mix Academy. You can hear the room in the hits and it makes a massive difference.
Why Doom Should Hurt
One of the funniest detours during the interview came when the guys admitted that Burnt Witch used to be called Dope Glitch. They nearly titled the EP Dope Glitch and the first single Dope Glitch. That is the kind of stoner logic that built this genre in the first place and the universe would not have been mad if they kept it. In the end Burnt Witch stuck and the logo art sealed the deal.
Doom is emotional music and it always circles back to Sabbath. The band talked about Sabbath like scripture and Ozzy’s final show like a funeral. That kind of reverence matters. There is no doom without Sabbath and there is no Sabbath without Tony Iommi. The classics are called classics for a reason.
The World Premiere of Bastard
The broadcast climax was the world premiere of Bastard before it officially dropped at midnight. Thick guitars, venom slow grooves, vocals that feel like they are being exhaled through a cloud of cigarette smoke after a long week. Jackson should be proud. Doom is not supposed to save the world. It is supposed to scorch it one riff at a time.
Burnt Witch confirmed the first EP title as Evil Wizard That Smoked Too Much Weed with a release date of February 13. A Friday the 13th drop because sometimes the universe hands you a perfect setup and you would be stupid not to swing at it.
Support Your Local Heavy
If you missed the live broadcast you get a second chance to be crushed. Just do it loud. Doom played quiet is like whiskey cut with Sprite. Pointless.
Burnt Witch proves that scenes are only scenes when real people make real noise. Jackson has something brewing and the rest of Tennessee better pay attention before the western part of the state becomes the doom belt.
Crank loud or do not bother. Support your locals. Support the underground.
Track List:
Battle of The bands Top Six Winners:
1 - Broken Trinity - Replicating Rebellion/Satanic Propaganda
2 - Mistress - Terrified eyes
3 - Memories Never Die - Karma
4 - The Funeral Procession - The Whispering Dark
5 - Ash To Dust - What Doesnt Kill Us
6 - Frostmorner - Gorgone
The Zach Moonshine Intro
7 - Ozzy Osbourne - Mr. Crowley/Guitar Solo
Burnt Witch - Interview featuring Bastard/Glass Eye
8 - High on Fire - Tough Guy
9 - TRUCKFIGHTERS - THE BLISS
10 - Black Label Society - Name In Blood/Berserkers
11 - Zach Moonshine - Barbarian
12 - Brutal Death Fuck - Elizabeth...Death Camp 13
13 - Moria - The Lake of Skulls
14 - Ghost - It's A Sin
15 - Aranda - You Don't Wanna Know
16 - INFERI - The Rapture of Dead Light
17 - Korbo - Sans Maintenant
18 - Filth - BODIES
19 - KREATOR - Krushers Of The World
20 - IMMOLATION - Adversary
21 - Temple Of Void - The Crawl
22 - Dragsholm - I Am the Impaler
23 - Pass the Ammunition - Gutter
Full show streaming now at Mixcloud!
Check out the interview segment also on YouTube, Spotify, Apple.
Super massive shoutout and thanks to the 106,923 metal maniacs from around the world that tuned into the live broadcast Friday night!
Go check them out and support:
https://www.facebook.com/burntwitch75
https://metaldevastationradio.com/thebeast/blog/28524/buried-alive-in-southern-doom-burnt-witch-lights-up-the-zach-moonshine-show?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger
