Photo Credit: Wilbur Kilb Hunter
Witch Mountain was formed in 1997 and became a household name in the city that keeps it weird, Portland, Oregon. The doom crew had just released mostly likely the best album thus far since the formation of the band in the 2014 release “Mobile of Angels”. Singer Uta Plotkin was belting out all the vocals on the most recent albums. Her voice became the definition of doom to most within the scene. Uta announced she would be leaving the band prior to the release of Mobile of Angels in September of 2014. If that wasn’t already enough bassist Charles Thomas was leaving the band as well. This left only drummer Nathan Carson and guitarist Rob Wrong. Uta left some huge shoes to fill for whoever would eventually take her place. The band had a few months to look around for a singer prior to Uta leaving the band. They were in no immediate hurry to fill the spot and just wanting to ensure they had the right person. Less than a week after receiving a video audition from Kayla Dixon she was to become the new singer of Witch Mountain. Dixon spent some time with the Cleveland based band Demons Within, but the majority of her career was in theatre acting. The 19 year old Dixon was flown out to join the band and newly added bass player Justin Brown from the Portland band Lamprey. Once again the band was complete. A tour was soon announced and Witch Mountain would be opening for the doom power house YOB.
Photo Credit: Wilbur Kilb Hunter
Photo Credit: Wilbur Kilb Hunter
Metal Nexus was lucky enough to catch Witch Mountain in Johnson City, Tennessee on March 27th. Just 5 days into that tour. The show was at The Hideaway which is one of the most intimate settings anyone could see a show. The stage is close quarters, up close and personal with very good sound. Kayla seemed very composed and eager to take stage. The whole crowd had yet to hear her sing as nothing had been released, so we were all going into this deaf and blind not knowing what to expect out of the new singer. Once the show started she seemed in her own world, the left handed shredder Rob started in on guitar and she began to sing. Immediately she had everyone in the room’s attention. Her vocals stand out, much different than anything we have heard in some time. Her singing would go from hitting these very high notes in perfect fashion to these deathly growls. After the first song the crowd was more than ready for more of the new Witch Mountain. Her stage presence made it seem like she had been the leader of the band for decades. Not one person in the room could look away. New bassist Justin and Kayla were showing that they belonged in this band. The great partnership of Rob Wrong and drummer Nathan Carson had correctly added an amazing new element to the band in Kayla Dixon. They began to play one of our favorites in the song “Beekeeper”. The song sealed the deal for us. Of course we love the old Witch Mountain stuff, but this new era is here and we love it. We went into this show not knowing what to expect and by the time it was over we were begging for more. Chemistry is hard to build within a band and sometimes takes a long time. The band looked like they had been playing with this lineup for years. For 45 minutes they captured the attention of every soul in the room, and may have even kept a few souls for themselves. Sometimes doom has a beautiful voice…
Photo Credit: Wilbur Kilb Hunter
