The modern masters of the Funeral Doom genre have done it again! Bell Witch is back with their brand new album, Future’s Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate. This highly-anticipated album comes off the heels of their 2017 release, Mirror Reaper.
Following one of the most interesting aspects of Mirror Reaper, The Clandestine Gate follows a similar format. The album consists of a single 1 hour and 23 minute song. So if your buddy hands you the aux cable and tells you to pick a song, this is the ultimate power play to assert your dominance over your foolish friends.
Right out of the gate, this song creates a beautifully haunting atmosphere that has an almost optimistic tone, unlike its Mirror Reaper, which told you right away that it was going to be a bleak 83 minute journey. The Clandestine Gate has a much stronger emphasis on the choral, more ethereal-style vocals and atmospheric instrumentation.
According to the band, this album will be a three part series that will eventually circle back on itself, which sounds to me really similar to how the song Mirror Reaper plays.
I highly recommend this band if you are a fan of slow and heavy music, especially if you are already a fan of death-doom or funeral doom as a genre. It’s an incredibly avant garde and experimental style of music but is incredibly interesting. My wife and I have been known to put Mirror Reaper on the turntable, open a bottle of wine, and watch The Witch on mute, which is an amazing experience. I’m sure we will do something similar with this album #SpookyDateNight.
Future’s Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate was released on April 21, 2023 on Profound Lore Records.
You can listen to the entire album on the Youtube video above or any of your preferred streaming services. And if you are a physical media lover, Bell Witch has the vinyl up for preorder over on their site.
