After the single "Vampir", with which the Podgorica gothic/doom metal band Willow introduced themselves to the audience, now their debut album "The VVitch" is in front of the audience.
In the manner of an announcement song, drawing inspiration from Slovenian mythology to works like those Edgar Allan Poe, the four-member band served a unique release that intertwines horror, gothic and occult themes, but also dark love stories, transporting the listener to a fantastic universe inhabited by witches, demons, vampires, where the dead dance, and shadows hide more than seems to the eye.
"The VVitch" contains 11 songs, of which 10 are original and a cover of The Cure's hit "Lovesong", which can be listened to on the YouTube service, and the members tell "Vijesti" that they worked on them for a long time.
"It was recorded during the Corona era, which slowed us down a bit. Guitars, keyboards and vocals were recorded at Zeta Desert Studio, and drums, mixing and mastering were done at Pejović Guitars. On the album, we also had a lot of help from others Branko Jugović from Rebellion Studios. He edited and mixed Jovana's vocals and gave us some key tips. The Willow band logo was working Srdjan Misović, and the cover art was done by 'Art of the Unspeakable'. On the song 'The VVitch part III - Miranglavica Coven', he recorded the drum Milos Markovic, and he recorded the guitar solo on 'The VVitch part I - Salem' Andrija Pejović", he explains Reverend Ignis the Cruel, behind which pseudonym he stands Miloš Klikovac, known to the domestic audience from groups such as Post Mortem and Zaimus.
In his own style, Willow promoted his debut at an event organized in Podgorica on Halloween, and the vocalist Drakaina the Sorceress (Jovana Pavlićević) says that the promotion exceeded all their expectations.
"The promotion exceeded all our expectations! The place was full, the energy was fantastic and so many people came to support our album, which really meant a lot to us. We chose Halloween because it's the night when the veil between our world and the spirit world becomes thinnest, allowing magic and secrets to seep into reality - which is the essence of our album," she explained.
Talking about how the album was created, Klikovac said that it all started with one guitar riff, which had a completely different sound than the ones he usually created until then.
"You felt that dark gothic/doom moment in that set of tones. After him, all the songs came naturally, connected by deep, dark stories. The process took several years. Various things happened, some of them slowed us down in the realization of the album, but... In the end, everything ended as it should, as it always happens in the dark but primordial cycle of our creation", he pointed out.
Most of the inspiration for the songs comes from the love of horror greats, such as the aforementioned Po, but HP Lovecraft, Bram Stoker and many others, explained Klikovac.
"The dark and occult things that come from their minds are the visions that most often inspire us. But there is always that moment of reality, some cruel and subtle horror, like a shadow in the corner of the room that follows your movements. That reality, that moment when you realize that the worst horror can come out of your everyday life, that's often scarier than any fiction," he explains.
The world of darkness, dark stories and epic fantasy is an inexhaustible source of inspiration for them, and Pavlićević explained why.
"In it we see not only mystery, but also eternal, sublime beauty, which fascinates us and constantly draws us towards us. With our music, we try to introduce listeners to that world and share with them all the charms that lie hidden in it," she said.
In addition to all of the above, one place in Zeta - Miran Glavica, who got her song on the album - also served as inspiration.
"These are those old, grandfatherly stories from Zeta, engraved in our lives like cracks of time in stone. It is said that at night, when everything is quiet, witches come to Miranglavica. They gather around the fire and play a round with the demons. Maybe those stories once served to scare children, but can we say that so lightly? What if Miranglavica is not just a legend, but a shadow of something that hides in the dark, something that waits in silence, forgotten in the dark parts of the world?", asks Klikovac.
After the promotion of the album, the band has no concrete plans for concerts, but maybe soon they will devote themselves to the production of a music video, Pavlićević revealed. Besides her and Klikovac, the group consists of Marquis of Kaamos i Domenico Sant'Angelo.
Bonus video:
