Margarita Witch Cult – Strung Out In Hell

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · August 18, 2025

Margarita Witch Cult are a three-piece proto-doom/ stoner rock band from the birthplace of heavy metal, Birmingham, England. They consist of Scott Abbott on vocals and guitars, James Brown on bass, vocals, synth, mellotron, and guitars, and George Caswell on drums and vocals. They released their Self Titled debut back in 2023 and just recently dropped their latest called, Strung Out In Hell on Heavy Psych Sounds. It contains nine tracks around thirty seven minutes long and was released on July 18th 2025.

Margarita Witch Cult has a heavy bashing and vintage rocking sound. The opener, “Crawl Home To Your Coffin” erupts with a slick doom beating riff that has a catchy chorus too. The groove is nice and rocking throughout and flows with grace and beauty. “Scream Bloody Murder” has a garage metal vibe that boasts guitar harmonies and hook-driven vocal melodies. It’s a straight forward hard rock/ old school metal song that kills. “Conqueror Worm” pumps in the heavy doom and dark riffage. The Margarita Witch Cult sound keeps progressing on each track and this one touches into diabolical synth with the mammoth guitar riffs and tribal drumming. It has a heavy psychedelic twist too which is very appealing.

The fourth track, “Witches Candle” is a good rocking and old school sounding metal song. The chuggy guitars and pounding percussion are joined with a hypnotic bass line and electrifying guitar leads. These guys can rock out on a heavy jam. The next song is a Billy Idol cover for “White Wedding”. An odd but ballsy choice for a cover, but the band pulls it off. The doomed up version works in context with their style but I’m not totally convinced that I would have included it here. However, it doesn’t take away from the other excellent songs included on Strung Out In Hell. “Mars Rover” marches back into progression with snare taps and swirls of keyboards. The song is another rocking classic! The high register voice of Scott Abbott is fantastic with the music and his catchy melodies are an absolute attraction to the song writing.

“Dig Your Way Out” is a rager! It has a sludgy and fuzzy tone with static-enhanced vocals. The music is bruising with menace and crushes onward with conviction. “The Fool” has a swinging rock and quirky style that sounds great! It has an old Alice Cooper essence about it with rocking horns too. The final cut on Strung Out In Hell is the band’s most devastating. The strangely titled “Who Put Bella In The Wych Elm” is a colossal piece of musical art. It begins with clean guitar build ups and shifts into an annihilating doom riff. The vocals are nasty and distorted and coealse nicely with the mammoth rhythms. The song is just under seven minutes and it’s a heavy explosion of fuzz driven doom. Margarita Witch Cult are a terrific band that really impressed me with this album. Like most great records, multiple listens are in good order for this one, there’s a lot going on within their sound.