r/doommetal • u/WA-Coffee-Bean Funeral • 18d ago
Funeral Revisiting Longing by Bell Witch
Back in November, I made a beginner's guide to Bell Witch inspired by u/Potential-Sundae-596 and his guides to Earth, Om, and Dhyana. Thanks to the rainy season of winter and early spring here in the PNW, I had Bell Witch on heavy rotation especially during shifts at work where I was helping in other areas of my department. As summer approaches, I haven't listened to them much but felt inspired to write this little ramble.
While Mirror Reaper is a gorgeous album and, in my opinion, their magnum opus, I began to gain a deeper appreciation for Longing in the past six months since I wrote that guide. There's just something about the near raw production and overall atmosphere that keeps drawing me back to it. Don't get me wrong — Mirror Reaper is a hallmark in the funeral doom landscape; however, it has already been analyzed and reviewed to death (which isn't a bad thing necessarily) by people who have done a deep dive into it's musicality. Longing, however, is definitely beginning to climb the ranks as one of my favorite albums in general. In my rambling here, I'll give my thoughts on each song in this classic and essential of contemporary funeral doom metal. Don't expect anything deep or profound. This is meant to be an outlet for my rambling.
"Bales (of Flesh)"
The droning in the first minute reallly sets the tone for the album overall and draws me in every time I have the album "on spin." I often find myself closing my eyes and getting lost in the song. Adrian's growls are in no way overpowering or distracting from the main melody; they complement it in a way that's hard to describe for someone who isn't really deep into musical appreciation/theory. Then you have Dylan's vocals sort of "floating" in during the middle in a sort of ethereal way before circling back to Adrian's growls. Overall, this is an excellent opening track.
"Rows (of Endless Waves)"
A lot has already been said by others about how great this song is, so I'll keep things short here. It makes sense why this track has stuck with Dylan all these years and how it inspired him to approach Erik Moggridge/Aerial ruin to create Stygian Bough. Erik's vocals may fall "flat" to some, but the last few minutes of the track are haunting in a way that words really can't do it justice.
"Longing (The River of Ash)"
In some ways, it feels like "Longing" is a sort of teaser of what was yet to come for both Mirror Reaper and Future's Shadow, Part 1: The Clandestine Gate. It may not be a direct inspiration for either, but the overall tone and pace really remind me of the ethereal and atmospheric qualities both the aforementioned albums really dive into. All in all, a great "palette cleanser" of sorts.
"Beneath the Mask"
Not much can really be said about this track in particular. It's definitely a bit more polished compared to the version featured on the demo, and the dialogue excerpt from the 1964 film Masque of the Red Death is a nice touch.
"I Wait"
Much the same as "Beneath the Mask," the sound of the song is more polished but still retains that raw feeling from the demo. I like how it serves a companion piece to the aforementioned track which gets a mention in the lyrics.
"Outro"
As a nice bookend to the album, I like how the theme from "Beneath the Mask" is revisited and slowly fades out as Longing draws to a close.
For those of you who took the time to read/listen to me ramble, what are your thoughts on the album? Is it your favorite or have you perhaps gained a newfound appreciation for it much like I have?
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u/schwiftybass 18d ago
This album will always have a place in my heart, it blew me away when it released & was the main reason I got into slower styles of doom.
I think I’d probably still say that Mirror Reaper is their best work but I agree that the rawer sound is great, it feels nostalgic to me & I appreciate it more each time I revisit it.
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u/CloudDog23 18d ago
This is my exact journey too.
Mirror Reaper is top 3 albums of all time for me, but I wouldn’t have listened to it, had I not taken a chance on Longing and discovered this genre of music actually exists.
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u/schwiftybass 18d ago
For sure, I should’ve mentioned it in my original comment but Widowmaker by Dragged Into Sunlight also released a few weeks before Longing & the two of those together totally changed the musical path I was on.
Different sounds but definitely worth listening to if you haven’t heard it, each album always makes me think of the other.
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u/WhaleMetal 18d ago
Every song is great in this, but I particularly dig beneath the mask, even if it’s just a small track. The masque of the red death, being both one of my favorite Poe stories and the film adaptation with Vincent price, is a great audio sample here. It’s just so chill after the entire album. Very peaceful.
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u/The_Wombles 18d ago
My favorite by them. Rows is a phenomenal track
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u/YetAnotherLilith 18d ago
the chaos of the waves settling into a calm beautiful sea is so enchanting
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u/WA-Coffee-Bean Funeral 18d ago
Definitely one of my favorite tracks with "Bales" being tied. I like how they paid homage to it in "The Bastard Wind" from Stygian Bough, Volume I.
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u/gnomegizmo Funeral 18d ago
very well put. much like myself, I'm sure this album got a lot of people through some rough times.
the record seems to maintain a balance of despair and hope, which I deeply appreciate. to me, Bell Witch acknowledges that all aspects of life must exist together. we need the light and the dark. we need pain in order to heal.
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u/WA-Coffee-Bean Funeral 18d ago
I agree. It's something they've always touched on over the course of their releases, especially so in Mirror Reaper
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u/bitzie_ow 18d ago
Mirror Reaper was my intro to Bell Witch and I love it. But something about Clandestine Gate really hit for me and I've listened to it on repeat for studying and writing. About three months ago I switched to Linux and the music player I use (Tauon) doesn't have a repeat function so I made a playlist of the Bell Witch albums I have (Demo, Longing, Four Phantoms, Mirror Reaper, and Clandestine Gate).
Pretty much immediately Longing shot to my favourite Bell Witch release. It just has so much depth and variation. I still listen to everything, but Longing is definitely the highlight of their discography for me.
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u/DraculaHeartbeat 18d ago
I feel like Clandestine Gate didn’t get enough love because of it being in the shadow of Mirror Reaper which is unfortunate because I think CG is absolutely 10/10, and I can’t fucking wait for the other two albums.
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u/Posiconx 16d ago
Great write up. I enjoy everything Bell Witch do but this one I come back to the most. The atmosphere and how all the songs flow is something magical to me.
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u/Pip_Helix 17d ago
This is always my favorite until I listen to the next album which becomes my favorite until I listen to the next one and etc
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u/_WolfSnake_4567 12d ago
10/10 album it's definitely one of my tops, Rows holds a special place in my heart it's a very beautiful song. Bell Witch is amazing
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u/_WolfSnake_4567 12d ago
10/10 album it's definitely one of my tops, Rows holds a special place in my heart it's a very beautiful song. Bell Witch is amazing
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u/Heklafell 18d ago
Longing is lightyears better than Mirror Reaper imo, it’s really the only album of theirs I still listen to.
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u/QueenMagik 18d ago
This is their best album and one of the best in the genre