Customer Reviews

Paralyzed

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I saw that this was was coming out, I knew I was going to buy it on the release date. This was defiantly a disappointment for me. It felt like their style has completely changed, along with their overall sound/mixing. The vocalist is still the same, but the delivery feels forced and overwhelming. I'm not the kind of person who likes for a band to continue making the same album for their entire career, AT ALL. This album however, doesn't feel like a natural progression from their first album.

I most certainly buy their next album, in hopes for a return to their original sound. They are an amazing band in this genre. Their first album is VERY good. Go buy it instead.

If you already own their self-titled and liked it, don't expect too much of the same here.

Weird, raw, punk, creative and free, this is way different than the sabbath-y first album, but in the best ways. It really grew on me and now I can't stop listening to it.... it can happen to you too...

The person that said that their 1st album is better is spot on. This disk is a sad excuse for a second cd. I wish them better on their next release.

Unlike the first album which was a stoner/doom metal masterpiece, Paralyzed takes a more of a neo-punk metal shift. There are some decent songs on the album but this unfortunately was not what I was looking for when I bought the album.

When the first Witch album dropped a few years back, cynics were quick to paint inaccurate pictures of the band due to the involvement of Dinosaur Jr. guitarist/vocalist J. Mascis. I said that the cynics could piss off back then, and that goes double for anyone still hating on the band today. Mascis, of course, returns to his pre Dino Jr. days with this outfit, manning the drum kit and letting someone else take center stage. That someone is Kyle Thomas (no, not the same KT from Exhorder, Floodgate, Alabama Thunderpussy, et al), a complete bad-ass with one of the most insane doom-rock wails this side of original St. Vitus vocalist Scott Reagers. Or Wino. Or even Ozzy, if you want to get all prissy about it. On their debut, Witch gave us a somewhat mellow take on things, straddling the fine line between sweet stoner rock and Hawkwind-ish space jams. On `Paralyzed,' the fire has been lit and these bastards are out to rip off heads and destroy souls. Ninety percent of the album has the drums cracking at a raging punk tempo, the bass galloping along and around and beside them, with ultra-fast riffing and spacey solos from the guitar--all led by Thomas' suddenly confident and somewhat evil vocals. The slow parts are probably heavier, and definitely more evil. Ultimately, `Paralyzed' delivers true doom, designed to weed out the pretenders, and makes it clear that Witch are no side-project or freakshow attraction. This is the real deal. And it bloody well rocks, start to finish.

I cannot believe some of the poor reviews people have of this album. This is some of the best doom/sludge/thrash combo to come out since early Slayer and even the 1973 "Tyranny and Mutation" from B.O.C. Why would people say that this album imitates others? It's very original. Trust me, I have 500 metal CD's in my collection, from the 1970 releases Paranoid and Deep Purple In Rock (those are NOT proto-metal albums, they are the real deal) to the present-day stuff, I know what is original and what isn't.

I haven't heard lyrics like these since the 70's metal bands. And the guitar work, layer upon layer of it, very complex and rich, you just don't hear such overwhelming guitar work like this, even in today's easy-to-overdub-everything studios. Of all the criticisms of this album, I never heard that the guitar work was bad, because it's not. It's a great mixture of thrash, punk, and a twist of southern twang.

The bottom line is that maybe everything has already been done in both rock and metal, so by that definition everything now is a copy or an imitation of something done in the past. But taking a blend of past music and mixing and matching it into a great album is not bland imitation, it shows an excellent sense of creativity and songwriting talent, especially these days, when basically nothing on terrestrial radio is even worth listening to.

I didn't think this was that good of an album the first time i listened to it. it was too different from their first album. then i picked it back up. my mind changed completely. this album is vastly superior to their first. the sound is like no other band. hard and twisted. the tracks flow together wonderfully. the final track (old trap line) is sick. awesome all the way through.

Now that I got your attention with that title, you now know what you can expect from this great band. Yes, their sound resembles bands like "The Jesus & Mary Chain", "Black Rebel Motorcycle Club", "Love And Rockets", and the like. And, they do it very good. Their first self-titled album shouldn't be missed either. This band does not disappoint! Solid 5 stars!

These songs will burrow deep into your brain and live there for a long time to come. An instant metal classic!

One star for the cool cover,and One star for J.Mascis being in the band. Other than that, this is boring stuff with nothing but the first track that you will want to play again. Pass.