Despite our best efforts, most of us will still be able to recall enough of our school history lessons to remember who William The Conqueror is – 1066, the battle of Hastings, arrow in the eye and all that. Yet few will be aware of the brutal subjugation of the north of England by William in the same era, so what better way to recount that forgotten period than via the medium of instrumental stoner/doom?
And who better to forge that tale than the now sadly defunct Leeds trio Wiht? Veering from the brooding emotion and shifting, post-metal dynamics of the epic, 20-minute title track to the swampy, neck-snapping odyssey of Oderic Vitalis, anyone who caught the band’s mind-melting, bong-rattling last hurrah at last year’s DesertFest will need no convincing of the sheer Sleep-esque power and psychedelic subtlety that Wiht wield.
For those so far unaware of the criminally underappreciated trio, this reissue of their final 2011 LP (with bonus track, of course) is damn near essential listening.
