Introducing: Depressive Witches

If there was one genre of music you never thought you’d be jigging along to in delight, black metal would probably be pretty high on the list. But prepare to change all that thanks to French duo Depressive Witches, who’ve brewed up a cauldron of black metal with a punky edge that they describe as black’n’roll and “chaotic, epic and catchy.”

The band is formed of two brothers Sick Bab (vocals and guitars) and Torvuus (guitars, drums and vocals) with a passion for black metal and rock’n’roll. They always wanted to start a band together but couldn’t find a drummer. So, obvious solution, Torvuus learned to play the drums, which allowed them to write and release music as a duo.

Describing the sound they’ve honed, Sick Bab tells us: “People shouldn’t listen to Depressive Witches like a ‘true satanic black metal band,’ but more like a black’n’roll project, with humour… If you only like bands like Gorgoroth, Watain or Marduk, maybe Depressive Witches is not for you. But try it first anyway!

“Just expect something epic and rock’n’roll, with an old wizard voice as vocals. It’s the result of black metal influences, classic rock, epic music… We have so many different tastes, that you can expect new weird stuff for the future.”

The brothers used the lockdown period in 2020 to write their debut album Bad Flask, which was released last year and has just been followed by their second album Distant Kingdoms, released two weeks ago.

On the album, Sick Bab told us: “Bad Flask was created in two years, with classic black metal at the beginning, and funny punk stuff at the end. Very minimalist and not always homogeneous… The creation process of Distant Kingdoms started just after Bad Flask writing. The riffs came naturally, it was so simple to write compared to Bad Flask (of course, some songs needed profound hard work). For this second album, you can hear that everything is less dark, more epic, easier to listen to maybe. We wanted something more ‘fun?’ Distant Kingdoms is a true travel into the unknown, but, like on Bad Flask, there are some strange songs on it.

“We were excited, especially because we waited one year between the recordings in Brussels and the release. But you know, we’re not afraid of the bad critics, and we don’t expect positive feedback either. I really don’t know how the people will welcome Distant Kingdoms, and I don’t care because what is recorded is recorded…”

The good news is that we love the sound of this. The album opens up with the excellent title track, which opens up with high-pitched guitars over intense drums that continue under throaty vocals. A cool little riff jumps in to bridge between the verses, before the track suddenly changes about two minutes in. The intense drums drop out, and drawn-out guitars bridge into a really cool The Offspring-esque riff that develop into a punk-meets-black metal section of guitars and engaging vocals. That all builds into a laid-back little guitar solo before a few final choruses bring it to a catchy conclusion.

That’s followed by the equally catchy In The Hall Of The Sleeping King, which features a pretty epic chorus and chunky guitar chords. Then there’s the excellent Wizard! Open The Gates!, which delves into new levels of darkness before a really cool almost choral section that gives way to intense vocals and pounding drums.

The album is packed with punky, black metal goodness but we particularly like the moody Pit Of Goblins, which sees a booming riff intersected with creepy whispery vocals before descending into driving guitars and drums then punky little stabbing guitars. And this song will definitely have you jigging along to black metal in ways you didn’t know was possible.

The most recent single from the album is Forgotten Icebergs, for which they released a lyric video yesterday:

We also have to give a mention to the penultimate track Cancel Your Wedding And Fuck The Witch, which probably deserves some kind of award for the best song name of the year and features a really cool guitar solo. The album concludes with something you definitely weren’t expecting in the laid-back singalong A Land To Lead.

As you may already have guessed, the Depressive Witches sound has been inspired by a wide range of genres and bands. The duo list the likes of Surely Inquisition, Satanic Warmaster, Abbath, Motorhead, AC/DC, The White Stripes and country music among their many influences, and tell us they’re “always looking for something simple and catchy.”

And on what inspires them to write music, Sick Bab tells us: “Nature, video games, movies, life experiences… The themes change with the album. Distant Kingdoms is like a role-playing game, but once a theme has been explored, maybe it’s time to explore another one. So the next album will be different for sure. But the madness will always be present. In contrast to other black metal bands, we are not motivated by religion, satanism, faith or spirituality.”

Depressive Witches will begin 2023 by playing their first shows in their homeland of France, which includes shows alongside the likes of Benighted, Lecks Inc and Narbeleth. And they have a tour planned in Eastern Europe, while they continue to put the finishing touches to their third album. We also firmly recommend giving their debut album Bad Flask a listen.

And Sick Bab adds: “We are not here to musically please everyone. If you hate us, don’t be sorry, it’s part of the game right?”

You can follow Depressive Witches on Facebook and Instagram, and check out their music on Spotify, Bandcamp, Apple Music, Deezer and YouTube. And check out more new bands with their record label WormHoleDeath.

If you go down to the woods today…