Rating: 8/10
By Kieran Webber
The Nashville band return with their fourth studio album ‘Sleeping Through The War’ (second for New West Records), following 2015’s much adored ‘Dying Surfer Meets His Maker’. The latest installment from All Them Witches is an expansive journey into bands experimental sound that ranges from sludgy stoner riffs too far out psychedelic tangents.
Opening with the meandering ‘Bulls’ a track that slowly wanders into chaos, throwing you into a chasm of psychedlia infused riff onslaught. It is an element of ATW music that still throws me today, they can go from tranquility to chaos in a second it is a magnificent skill to transfer between the two with such ease. Following track ‘Don’t Bring Me Coffee’ slips into a Queens Of The Stone Age inspired hip swinging stoner rock anthem. Much is the same with ‘Bruce Lee’ which again is classic stoner desert rock that channels the likes of Josh Homme and Kyuss.
Although it is in the second half of the album that it starts to get very interesting, the band shift their sound into a more ethereal realm. Introducing a wider soundscape that dances beautifully on the cosmic rock side of the fence. The slow driving ‘3-5-7’ sludges itself forward with playful guitars and Bonham esque percussion, whilst ‘Am I Going Up?’ is a translucent Pink Floyd inspired number that is heart-achingly beautiful.
The album as a whole is a fantastic musical journey that pulls infuence from the new and the old and blends them together, creating a tangent filled musical conquest. However, it is the message of this album that stands out as it tackles the world of constant distraction that we live in, when our end comes will we be lost in a daze? Will we sleep through the war? Who knows! What we do know though is that All Them Witches continue their journey and with each step they take their sound becomes more refined, ‘Sleeping Through The War’ is their most complete body of work to date and it is a magnificent listen.
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