Bell Witch - Mirror Reaper

Albums I like a lot: Part III

(Originally submitted to the Metal Archives on August 21st 2021)

Metal music has always been about speed and extremity. From its humble beginnings in Black Sabbath one can trace a line of bands where the goal was “we need to play faster, heavier and louder than the rest”. But there turned out to be an outlier in that evolutionary chain, and that is funeral doom. It eschewed the speed and anger of most extreme metal at the time and went on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, opting instead to be as solemn and slow as possible. In essence, its extremity came from going the other way that most bands did at the time. One such band is Bell Witch, whom I was introduced to through the subject of this review, 2017’s Mirror Reaper. Originally what caught my attention was its length. It’s not often that you see albums composed of a single 83 minute song. So I went in with an open mind and full of curiosity, and what I heard was one of the most emotionally gripping albums of my life.

This album puts the “funeral” in “funeral doom” in the most literal sense. It was written after the tragic passing of the band’s drummer, Adrian Guerra in 2016. Every aspect of this album brings to mind a procession, from the glacial pace, to the lyrics, which are one of this album’s defining characteristics. In essence, the band used this album as a way to deal with their bandmate’s passing, as well as the concept of death as a whole. The entire album is filled to the brim with sadness and ruminations on the inevitability of death as a part of life, and how we all must come to accept it as such. The clean bass reverberates throughout the album, contrasted by the massive distorted drones that come and go, in a similar way to how grief does after the loss of a loved one. But regardless of how many times they come, things end in a gentle way, with the album fading away into silence, no different than how death’s gentle embrace takes someone away from this world. From beginning to end it’s such a raw and powerful experience that few albums have matched it for me.

The production also plays a big part in its potency. Despite the band being a duo comprised of a drummer and a bassist, everything sounds massive. Every drum hit and every bass note, distorted or not, reverberates for a moment, with the notes lingering before fading away. The mixing is also praiseworthy, since even when the drones come in, everything is crisp and clear without losing any fidelity.

The vocal efforts present here are noteworthy for their variety and relation to the themes tackled in the album. There’s the solemn clean vocals, courtesy of Dylan Desmond and frequent collaborator Erik Moggridge of Aerial Ruin, whose performances have a meditative and mournful tone to them, and there’s Jesse Shreibman’s earth-moving growl, which looms over the album and makes its presence felt, in a similar way to how Guerra’s death influenced this piece. Guerra also has a tribute of sorts placed in the midsection of the track, where some unused vocal tracks of his were placed. Through that gesture the band manages to cement his legacy in it, as well as give him a proper farewell. His passage in the song is also quite fitting, since it deals with the fleeting nature of life and Death’s part in its cycle.

Mirror Reaper is as much of an album as it is an experience. Its honest expression of grief has resonated with, and left an indelible mark on me as a music listener. I am compelled to suggest this album to anyone, regardless of whether they enjoy funeral doom or not. It has cemented its place among my favourite albums, and it’s going to be one that I’ll be revisiting for years to come.

Rating: 100%