All Them Witches @ John Dee

A lot has changed for Nashville’s All Them Witches since their last trip to Oslo.

Firstly, they lost a band member. Well, two band members to be precise. Back in September 2017 – the band’s previous Oslo show – ATW were a four piece comprising of bassist/vocalist Charles Michael Parks Jr, guitarist Ben Mcleod, drummer Robby Staebler and keyboard player Allan Van Cleave. Together, over the space of half a decade, the band had released four albums, toured a hell of a lot, and largely not gotten the recognition they deserved.

In May 2018 Van Cleave left the band to be replaced on keys by Jonathan Draper. After the release of the band’s fifth album (the excellent almost-self-titled «ATW»), Draper also left, and the band announced they would continue as a three-piece.

Deserved recognition

The release of «ATW» seems to have given rise to a second big change for the band since September 2017; recognition. Their previous show was at the small and sweaty (in a good way) Revolver. Tonight sees them upgrade to John Dee, which sold out ahead of the show.

The band arrive on stage whilst War Pigs by Black Sabbath plays loudly in the background, which leads nicely into riff-heavy opener Funeral for a Great Drunken Bird from the band’s 2013 album «Lightning at the Door».

Varied Sound

Fans looking for a heavy metal show, however, will be disappointed. Describing All Them Witches’ sound is difficult, largely because it’s so varied. No two albums sound the same, and each album has equally varied tracks within it. The beginning of tonight’s set is packed with loud headbangers – the best example of which comes from When God Comes Back, with one of the best heavy riffs put to record.

But the band soon showcase their other skills, including the excellent slow-building blues of Harvest Feast, and the psychedelic 1^stvs 2^nd, both from «ATW». Parks even introduces the track Alabaster from 2017’s ‘Sleeping Through the War’ by saying “this one’s a dance track. I’m gonna dance, you can too if you like”.

Future Looks Bright

So, it’s varied, but is it any good? In short – yes, very good. Parks and Co rip through these different sounds without hesitation and blend them together seamlessly. Whether or not the loss of a keyboard has had an impact on the live experience I can’t say (despite my best efforts, I never made it to an All Them Witches show before today), but if it ever looked and sounded better than tonight I’d be impressed.

The future looks bright for All Them Witches. They’ll probably try dipping their toe into some new genre for their next album, and they’ll probably nail it. They’re next show in Oslo will probably involve another venue upgrade too.

All Them Witches @ John Dee: 8/10