One track spanning a massive 83 minutes is going to be an intimidating listen no matter which artist spawned it, but when that track is as grief-stricken, slow-building, and earth-shatteringly heavy as Bell Witch’s Mirror Reaper (Profound Lore), it’s going to take more time and patience than some people can muster. Given the deserved attention, however, Mirror Reaper is easily one of the most breath-taking releases of the year. This is a tribute to a departed friend, burdened by bereavement but tragically beautiful, and is not for the faint of heart.
Original drummer Adrian Guerra passed away last year at an awfully young age having helped craft the band’s first two releases: Longing (2012) and Four Phantoms (2015). Having started the band alongside bassist/vocalist Dylan Desmond, Adrian decided to leave the band in 2015, but his impact on Bell Witch, Dylan, and the whole doom metal scene will be timeless. Mirror Reaper becomes the perfect memoriam to an incredibly talented musician and dear friend.
Despite the long run-time, Mirror Reaper is a much more rewarding listening experience when embraced as a whole. It’s not a record you will fully appreciate on first listen and get instant gratification from. It paces itself superbly as it intertwines its thudding, heaving bass chords with contemplative breaks that allow the melodies of the doomy rhythms to breathe and swell. Billy Anderson’s production (Neurosis, Swans, Sleep etc.) compliments these gaps beautifully. The peaks and valleys in the music conjure up images in the mind of long-stretching wastelands, and the empty space is used both musically and spiritually to evoke the deep, inescapable sensation of loss this record is coupled with.
Chances are you have already made up your mind if you are willing to listen to a single 83 minute long song before reading this, but it is seriously worth your time and effort. Many will dismiss the structure as gimmicky and the pacing as strenuous, but fans of the band who are used to the 20-minute stretches of intense melancholy on previous records will already appreciate the sheer vastness of the album. The distorted bass and crashing cymbals don’t so much create hooks or “earworms”, but rather weave their way into your brain. You’ve submitted yourself to the immeasurable gloom and been hypnotised by the mournful vocals. When you snap back to reality, you don’t know how much time has passed and you don’t really care. This is a musical experience you really have to give up control to.
It was confirmed this past September that Bell Witch would be performing this monolith to despair in its entirety at next year’s Roadburn festival in Tilburg, and I can’t think of a more apt atmosphere to experience the crushing sonic and emotional weight of Mirror Reaper. I will be there, you should be too.
8.0/10
ROSS JENNER