Smoky, easy-going Doom, if such a thing were possible.
That’s as much Joy Division and Nick Cave and The Jesus and Mary Chain as it is Arcana 13 and Type O Negative. Steve B.’s sleepy vocals lend an ethereal, dream-like atmosphere. Their songs are like sculpted fog, not built from hard components like definitive riffs or hooks. The drums are mainly a cadence of snare and kick walking through swarms of cymbals. The echo and reverb wash the guitars as if they were inside a giant bathhouse. That’s the sound.

This lends a bit of somnambulistic sameness between the tracks on the album, like the houses in a flooded neighborhood sharing the same murky waters. Close the Hatch occasionally drop in some interesting chords, especially on the early tracks. Nothing jarring or dissonant - - there’s nothing aggressive or confrontational anywhere on the record; that’s the point - - just unexpected strums that improve on what could also have been done with single notes or fifths. These little moments are where the album is at its best.
The first three tracks are the most distinct and memorable: “Death of Wolves,” “Hedge Rider,” and the title track. “Modern Witchcraft” works as a low-key, laid back, mild downer of distortion and light Doom.