Witch Fever manage to stand out even in a year full of similar releases.
Release date: October 31, 2025 | Music For Nations | Instagram | Website | YouTube | Streaming
Alright, so you’ve read the verdict above, you’ve probably read the feature on Deftonescore, which I have linked to at least once before this, and you’ve definitely been saying to yourself, ‘man, there’s a shitload of shoegaze-adjacent drops happening this year.’ And if you haven’t done any of that, I’m not sure why you’ve clicked on a review for yet another ‘-gaze’ album, but hey, more power to you.
Manchester quartet Witch Fever may technically fall into this sphere, but what sets them apart from the plethora of other records released in 2025 is that they’ve taken a different approach to genre blending. Any ‘-gaze’ mixture is going to feature a ton of reverb and dreamy vocals, which makes it a natural partner for doom, as seen in albums like Faetooth‘s Labrynthine or Frayle‘s Heretics & Lullabies. Debuts like Ripe Fruit Rots and Falls by chokecherry and the various Softcult EPs veer more traditional shoegaze with a touch of alternative rock. Witch Fever, however, have decided that the best sound to pair with the classic ‘-gaze’ signifiers is hardcore punk, and man, that fucking rules.
Opening track “DEAD TO ME” cuts right to the chase with driving tom drums, fuzzy guitars, and some eerie vocal harmonies, all to be expected for working within these genre confines. Then they blow the lid off the thing and pivot, hard, towards something that sounds a bit like a DRAIN offcut, with repeated gang vocal screams of the title. My favorite song off FEVEREATEN, “FINAL GIRL”, follows a mere two-and-a-half minutes later, building on the formula of the previous track and doing it even better. The heavily reverbed instruments give the entire palette a wistful quality that contrasts the frantic, desperately howled lyrics of the refrain–‘YOU CAN’T BURY ME’, a reference to the ‘final girl’ trope and the song’s namesake.
I think these first two bits, which again only take up about five minutes of a 43-minute album, contain the concentrated essence of FEVEREATEN and showcase Witch Fever in their comfort zone. That’s not a demerit–when a band is really, really good at a specific sound, there’s absolutely no shame in sticking to it. I was entranced pretty much immediately by this first barrage of sounds, intrigued by the palpable tension between the two poles of their preferred genres. I rarely get grabbed so instantly by something–I think I actually said ‘Oh, damn, this rips’ out loud at my desk like, 45 seconds in. Off to a good start!
Up next is “THE GARDEN”, which is the most narrow reading of the band’s interpretation of shoegaze, and while it could come across as a bit mainstream, I still think the vocals do plenty of work to keep things exciting. A lot of groups in this general quadrant of music, especially female-fronted ones, tend to prefer very haunting, ethereal vocals. Witch Fever play it a lot more emotional and raw, and the push-pull between very natural singing and semi-shouted screams a la Upchuck or even Lambrini Girls gives them a unique edge on both “THE GARDEN” and the album as a whole.
FEVEREATEN contains a healthy dose of Savages influence, and British post-punk in general. The laconic, monotone vocal delivery, even the guitar tone on songs like “SAFE” would be right at home on 2013’s Silence Yourself. Witch Fever are an extremely British band who have made an extremely British record. FEVEREATEN is angry, gloomy, a bit grungy, and sometimes cheeky (there’s a track called “SEE YA NEXT TUESDAY”), and all of this is reminiscent of the best post-punk, grunge, and hardcore from the island.
That’s also why I think FEVEREATEN is at its best when the punk influence is pushed to the most extreme; the exciting thing about this album is the intersection between the moroseness of shoegaze and the utter rage of hardcore. Ending track “I SEE IT” does a great job of turning up the intensity dial, especially after a run of somewhat mediocre songs in the back half of the record. “BURN TO HIT” and the aforementioned “SEE YOU NEXT TUESDAY” and good, somewhat clean fun, with the former sounding a bit like a Nova Twins B-side. But either the album is a touch too long, or there’s a few too many similar songs next to each other to really retain interest for the full run.
Maybe I have been too spoiled by the sheer magnitude of half-hour albums this year, and social media has rotted my brain and attention span. I don’t think the above gripe is particularly damning, though. Witch Fever are clearly just getting started, as FEVEREATEN is only their second full-length after 2022’s Congregation and a handful of singles and EPs. This is the first time I feel like they’re very comfortable in their sound, and that sort of familiarity with their sonic home base is likely going to lead to some very cool stuff in the future.
