WITCHORIOUS is a doom metal trio from Paris, France. They play a little heavier, but make magical songs with both male and female vocals. This interview was done in late February 2024 with Antoine Auclair (guitar/vocals).
Why did you form the band and why doom metal?
- We were already playing heavy rock in another band together. We were bored of what we were doing, and wanted to create darker music and talk about the issues we were facing. We decided to play only what we loved: heavy classical riffs, fuzzy basslines, free drum patterns, and bluesy vocals, which led to doom metal.
I think the use of both male and female vocals is a very good idea. How would you describe your sound?
- We try to incorporate as many ideas as we can as long as it serves the songs. We are lucky enough to be two singers, so we try to make the most of it. Lucie is the lead singer on "Eternal Night", a song she wrote, and I lead on the others, because I write most of the songs. I am also very proud of our two voices in unison in "To The Grave", and I think we'll try to do this more often in the future.
Our sound is a mix of old school doom guitar riffs with stoner basslines and proggy drums, something dark and evil punctuated with male and female vocals and screams.
You have just released your debut album, which is a fantastic record. What can you tell us about it and are you satisfied with it?
- Thank you! We see this album as a collection of our influences, and a good summary of what WITCHORIOUS is, how we sound and what we have to say.
We are pretty satisfied with it because it really resembles what we had in mind. All the topics we wanted to talk about, all around the global story of crazy souls wandering in a sick old city ruled by evil forces, are there. Francis Caste, our producer on the album, helped us create this semi-vintage semi-modern sound and overall haunted atmosphere we were dreaming of. And of course the artwork, made by Vaderetro Studio and Headbang Design is amazing, and was a great inspiration when writing our songs. This is what we wanted to create on this one, we have nothing to add to it. We are so happy that it is finally released. We love to see the feedback, and we are ready to start the next chapter!
Do you have much live dates now that the album is out or what does the future look like for the band?
- 2024 will definitely be about touring a lot for us. We want to promote our music, gain experience, and meet people. We have around fifteen shows to come right now, and we'll continue booking as many gigs as we can. Of course we'll play mainly in France, in Paris and in many northern and eastern cities, but we'll also play our first show abroad in June in Switzerland! We are very excited about all this.
Is there anything that you would like to add?
- Thank you so much for the album review and interview Hard Rock Info, we greatly appreciate your work as a music enthusiast and supporter. Like for anyone who will read this, we hope to see you on the road, we cannot wait to meet you. Please have a listen to our record and, if you like it, come to our shows and say hi!
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