Witch Wife in an Alien World
Out 9th October on Cruz del Sur Music
As the erstwhile darlings of the new wave of traditional lesser spotted heavy metal, this album is a bold move for Smoulder. Sure, aside from a clear pivot away from doom into faster classic metal stylings, the material is contiguous with previous effort ‘Violent Creed of Vengeance’. But the demeanour is darker, the delivery more eccentric, the overall experience more bombastic, reaching to the essence of old school USPM in Brocas Helm, Manilla, Road, or Cirith Ungol, which can often appear abrasive or even baffling to modern ears which, for the most part, usually parse it as “charming”.
The presentation pulls in opposite directions. Production wise things have been brought back to basics, not that Smoulder ever showed much ankle in this regard, but some attention has been taken to make this as raw and immediate as possible whilst coating the mix in enough varnish to enhance the more epic moments. This, in every respect, is a meat ‘n’ two veg metal setup, with no flourishes in the recording process to distract from the fact. The same could be said of the performances themselves, with each instrument linking into one another, rarely taking to centre stage with memorable solos or elongated jams. Each musician is given a chance to sell their wares, but each in turn ultimately serves the song. Further, where previously I found Sarah Ann’s Broadway crooning incongruous in situ, they are now less concerned with carrying a recognisable tune in the populist sense, instead articulating a wandering, atonal approach which perfectly caps off the raw philosophy behind this album. Flamboyant, eccentric, yet a little more homegrown and rough around the edges. The music is more cluttered, chaotic, adventurous, and unpredictable, the twin guitars interlinking in conversation as a counterweight to the vocals. Equally the rock solid bass, easily discernible in the mix but never distracting, is constantly in the pocket of the drums. The music is erratic and raw yet somehow more deliberately composed.
But the story of ‘Witch Wife in an Alien World’ is more complicated than a simple authenticity Olympics. These musicians are steeped in the lore of traditional metal, but until now they always appeared to be holding back for the sake of maintaining their well managed online brand. So I’m going to break form here and indulge in some meta commentary, because barely a fortnight into its release this album is violently cleaving opinion in two. Cards on the table, Smoulder are annoying. Not musically, which, until now, has always struck me as largely generic traditional heavy/doom metal specifically designed to net as large an audience as possible. No, they’re annoying in how assertively they tend their online brand. I don’t think it’s disingenuous necessarily. They seem to be genuinely passionate about metal. Despite Ann’s history in children’s television, there were hints that her taste was always more sophisticated than the light hearted Banger TV format would allow. But like those bizarre crabs perfectly adapted to life in deep sea volcanoes, Smoulder have evolved specifically to thrive in a social media ecosystem.
That’s why ‘Witch Wife in an Alien World’ is such an interesting move. Initially it looked like they were leaning into a more concentrated, clunky dose of pure heavy metal, as if to challenge their audience a little. Throwing down a gauntlet to some of their contemporaries, dispensing with fans’ nostalgic expectations yearning for a time when many of them weren’t even born, and instead confronting epic heavy metal as it actually was, and in turn articulating what it could be in the 2020s, decluttered of pastiche and irony. A genuine and passionate expression agreeably out of step with this carefully crafted social media brand.
But it was not to be. Smoulder’s highly orchestrated online image couldn’t stay the course and orchestrate its way to keeping silent until audience reaction had bedded in a little. In a glorious act of self-sabotage, Ann took to social media on release day to defend the creative choices behind ‘Witch Wife in an Alien World’ in response to some negative pushback to the first two singles. If the music itself didn’t make Smoulder’s line in the sand clear enough (it did), then defensive Instagram posts snuffed out any room for further doubt (as an aside, this is why I rarely if ever reply to comments, lest I give the drooling pondlife that bother to trawl through my output the satisfaction).
The days that follow a new release are a delicate time, especially if there’s been a change in direction. For Smoulder, the changes were presentational more than stylistic, but resoundingly clear with even a cursory listen. To my mind it’s essential for an artist to be silent during this period to allow audience reaction to form naturally even as opinions collide off one another in heated debates. This is an increasingly challenging prospect in an age of instant feedback. Smoulder were formed in the crucible of social media. The brand must be managed. The narrative around them must not be permitted to form organically even if the music itself was in some sense a celebration of free spirited authenticity.
One of the rules I live by as a critic is to never engage with the opinion of others until I’ve published a review. Aside from maybe a cursory scan of the promo blurb I actually want as little context as possible (a challenge with artists I know well). We could go further and say that context should emerge from the critical process itself, rather than being handed down to us by the artist or their PR agent. To some extent, the declining quality of music criticism is in part driven by a crisis of excess context. We are too familiar with artists as individuals, too invested in their personalities, beliefs, demeanours, to the extent that it forms a large part of our response to their output. Subpar work is handwaved because the creator is personable or their politics on point. And of course the anal obsession with stratifying “sketch” artists is fast becoming the primary metric by which many people curate their listening rotations. You don’t have to believe, but my opinions on ‘Witch Wife in an Alien World’ were formed quickly and prior to my knowledge of any discord within Smoulder’s fanbase. Regardless of what I might think of Smoulder as a branding entity, as far as possible this is barred from my assessment of their music, which, as far ‘Witch Wife in an Alien World’ is concerned, has been resoundingly positive.
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