Album review: Cwfen – Sorrows

‘Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and caldron bubble…’ Long before Macbeth, the rough hewn landscape of Scotland has been spiritual home to the songs of the witches. Glaswegian conjurers Cwfen actually take their band name from the Welsh translation of the collective ‘Coven’, but the fathomless melancholy and forbidden pleasures flowing through this first album affirms that their magic is rooted deep in the old Caledonian darkness.

Agnes Alder’s haunting vocals and the complex, ethereal soundscapes of songs like Whispers and Penance will resonate deeply with fans of Chelsea Wolfe, Emma Ruth Rundle and King Woman. It’s the addition of pulsating goth-rock rhythms and Guy DeNuit’s probing lead guitar that really hits the spot, however, completing a sound that tips its black cap to legends like The Sisters Of Mercy and Type O Negative without ever sounding derivative.

Sprawling first track proper Bodies is instantly enchanting, full of mesmeric, otherworldly melody and visceral sensuality. Wolfsbane increases the urgency and high drama with razorblade riffs and ageless angst – ‘Sisters, I’ve waited a hundred years for this.’ Reliks is a sombre song of praise as fitting at a black mass as on a swaying goth club dancefloor, while Embers underlines their epic intent across seven gloriously wrenching minutes.

Arriving at the height of summer, barely 18 months since they first emerged, Sorrows is an unapologetically audacious first statement from musicians who’ve so obviously spent years toiling in shadow. But as last track Rite unspools its weave of corruptive sweetness and sacrificial savagery it’s clear that they wield enough iniquitous sorcery to blacken the cursed sun.

Verdict: 4/5

For fans of: Chelsea Wolfe, Type O Negative, King Woman

Sorrows is released on May 30 via New Heavy Sounds