Witchrot

Witchrot crawled out of Toronto’s underground in 2018, fusing doom metal, fuzz-drenched psychedelia, and ghostly shoegaze. Formed by Lea Reto and guitarist Peter Turik, the band is known for crafting immersive, slow-burning soundscapes where Reto’s smoky vocals drift through crushing waves of distortion. Their sudden rise to cult fame began with a viral breakup post Kerrang! called “the most metal breakup announcement of all time.” Instead of burning out, Witchrot harnessed the chaos. Their debut album Hollow earned praise from Metal Forces Magazine as “soulful and bewitching… dripping in fuzzed-up psych.” That same raw energy was captured on Live in the Hammer, a document of their relentless, ritualistic performances. In 2025, the band unveiled Soul Cellar, a darker, deeper dive into the underworld of their sound. It expands on their signature heaviness with cinematic pacing and trance-like atmosphere, layered with Patrick Sherrard’s eerie synth textures. The album drew praise from Metal Hammer as “gorgeously sumptuous, deeply layered dark psychedelia, expanding out slowly and swallowing you whole in glorious, all-encompassing fashion.” MetalSucks called it “dark, deep, and heavy doom metal to break your neck to,” while Metal Epidemic wrote, “you will be hard-pressed to find anything else right now quite like this.”. The lineup also includes drummer Myles Deck (Cauldron) and bassist Jon Ferraria (formerly of Panzerfaust).