An analogy: Greta Van Fleet are to Led Zeppelin, as Witcher’s Creed are to Black Sabbath; i.e.: a bunch of reverent, talented, awesome kids, paying tribute to the greats that started everything. These guys absolutely sound like they finished second place in the talent show, behind that sophomore girl who looks and sings just like Christina Aguilera (no one was gonna beat her).

The songs on Wither’s Creed’s debut, “Awakened From The Tomb. . . ” are earnest, sincere, youthful, guileless, endearing, awkward at times, highly derivative of Tony Iommi’s Sabbath sound and riffs, and an excellent start. They do branch out into some other 70s sounds, though, beyond Sabbath - - I mean, their drummer does have a cowbell.
The songs are a blast, though. Seriously. Their opening eponymous tune sets the retro-Doomy tone, but track 2, “Depths of the Black Void” is even better (although unfortunately, for Wither’s Creed, it sounds like they’re saying “Depth of the Blackboard” in the chorus). The best moments on the album are the “You’re all doomed!” solo vocal shouts in “Salem (Resurrection).” The album closes out nicely after this, with linked songs “Monolith” and “Awaken From the Tomb.”
My biggest complaint isn’t with the music, it’s with the production. Vocalist, Dennis Blohm Hedlund has a great voice, but there are a number of spots that simply should have been retaken. This gets even worse when Emil Bjällerhag chimes in with the gruffer backing vocals. Again - - it doesn’t sound the like the band are incapable of hitting these harmonies; it just sounds like the recording session philosophy was “one take and move on.”
This approach seems to have been applied to every facet of the recording process, giving the whole thing a very live feel. To be honest, it’s kind of refreshing to hear something imperfect and real, that hasn’t been post-edited into dry, soulless, vacuum-sealed product. It’s a rough debut, to be sure, but Witcher’s Creed show all kinds of promise. My hat is off to them.