Bell Witch To Conjure Otherworldliness With Two Special Set At Roadburn 2018
Haunted doom duo Bell Witch will make their return to Roadburn in 2018 with a full performance of their staggering new album, Mirror Reaper on Saturday, 21 April. This single piece of music stretches over a period of 83 minutes, taking the audience on a journey through sadness and loss that is better conveyed in pure sound than in written form.
From crushing passages of primal howling to sparse, airy moments of reprieve, the composition takes the form of a classical piece with movements and flourishes that will surprise and dazzle Roadburn attendees. While this album is soon to be released, we’re certain that no amount of time sitting with this new record will fully prepare us for the sheer immensity of this material in a live setting. The set will be complemented by striking film composition by Taylor Bednarz.
If that’s not enough, Bell Witch will be performing a separate collaborative set with their friend and partner in cosmically heavy melancholy, Erik Moggridge of Aerial Ruin on Sunday, 22 April. As Moggridge has appeared on all Bell Witch releases to date in some capacity, we can expect his fragile yet evocative vocal style to lend an even more ghastly and ethereal quality to Bell Witch’s already otherworldly sound. The pairing is sadness distilled to its purest, most humbling form and we are thrilled to invite both of these artists to share their collective creations in this format. We anticipate few will leave the performance with dry eyes and necks that aren’t sore from headbanging.
Of the collaborative sets Bell Witch’s Dylan Desmond commented: “Aerial Ruin has been a sibling to Bell Witch since our inception. Erik’s vocal on Rows (of Endless Waves), which was the second Bell Witch song, solidified his corner of the band’s foundation. He has collaborated with us on all three of the albums since.
“Living in different cities has limited our ability to perform collaboratively, save a few occasional shows in the US Pacific Northwest. Most all of these performances have been reserved to one of the collaborative songs. The opportunity to perform two sets, one comprising all the former Aerial Ruin collaborations and the other Mirror Reaper in it’s 83 minute entirety, at one of the world’s most esteemed festivals is a very high honor.”
Bell Witch will perform on Saturday, 21 April (Mirror Reaper in full) at the 013 venue and Sunday, 22 April at Het Patronaat.
Ben Handleman / September 2017
Photo credit: Teddie Taylor
