GSR 003: Swamp Witch - Gnosis

The wait is over; let the weight fall: Swamp Witch's mighty Gnosis EP is now available on cassette from GSR. Swamp Witch, whose members come from Oakland and California's Central Valley, have been steadily building the ranks of their burgeoning doom cult in recent months, gathering worshipers in a stream of smoke-choked live rites that recall the hedonistic frenzy of Ancient Greek mystery religions. Alongside modern doom lynchpins Corrupted, Moss, and Noothgrush, Swamp Witch tap into the warped legacy of psychedelic and progressive music, from classic groups Flower Traveling Band and King Crimson to contemporary explorers such as SubArachnoid Space. These influences fuse into a dense entanglement of trance-inducing riffs that spiral downwards before crumbling into murky, bongwater-black sludge. Greg Wilkinson of Earhammer Studios once again applies his metallurgical skill to these enigmatic recordings, a meeting of minds (and amps) whose resulting heaviness has rarely been paralleled within the confines of Earth's atmosphere.

In addition, for those of you who have always felt that metal simply does not "slap" enough, the b-side contains a recording exclusive to this release: the entirety of the Gnosis EP, chopped and screwed by Houston's legendary DJ Dreamz. While any attempt at the fusion of doom and hip-hop will quite rightly raise a red flag for discerning listeners, a closer look (and listen) reveals numerous common threads linking these seemingly disparate sonic movements: an emphasis on thick, bass-heavy production, the cultivation of slowness for slowness' sake, and an unapologetic devotion to the use of mind-bending drugs for the cultivation of higher planes of consciousness. Simply flip the tape, light a blunt, and celebrate the memory of the late DJ Screw the way he would have wanted it: with disgusting, detuned doom.

We are offering these tapes for $6 PPD, contact us at gayscientistrecs@gmail.com for distro pricing and international shipping rates. You can stream all three tracks below along with the chopped and screwed version of Novem, and we are also offering the entire A-side of the tape as a free 192kbps MP3 download here.

Gnosis by SwampWitch