You can hear the hum of the speaker, buzzing from a quiet bass line. You move closer to the riff; it beckons with mysterious portent like a smoking cauldron... and then the pot spills, the riff wobbling in distorted frequencies, a heavy hand on the organ and a voice singing a spooky fairytale. It's too late, you've met the "Three Sisters."
Windhand's psychedelic doom-metal has only become more beguiling since its 2010 demo, each record turning a deeper shade of crimson, swaddled in velvet fuzz. Some of the Richmond quartet's best songs have appeared on split releases with like-minded bands Cough and Salem's Pot, and now they're keeping it local for a 12" with Virginia biker-doom-punks Satan's Satyrs.
"Three Sisters" is Windhand in Dopesmoker mode, keeping to one spliff-worthy Sleep riff over its 14 minutes without much deviation, exploring the textures of rumbling amp stacks, well-placed snare hits that pop out of the murk and Dorthia Cottrell's irresistibly sinister and sweet croon.
Windhand's split LP with Satan's Satyrs comes out Feb. 16 via Relapse Records.
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