WITCHES HAMMER

Canadian metal cult Witches Hammer premiere new track

Today, reanimated Canadian metal cult Witches Hammer premiere the new track “Across Azeroth”. The track hails from the band’s long-awaited comeback album, Damnation Is My Throne, set for international release on April 25th via Nuclear War Now! Productions. Hear Witches Hammer‘s “Across Azeroth” in its entirety here:
Although they only released a few demos and a 12” EP during the band’s original active period (1984-1990), Witches Hammer occupies a prominent place among the pantheon of Canadian speed metal masters. The original lineup featured guitarist Marco Banco, who was just 15 years old when the band recorded its first demo; vocalist Rayy Crude; bassist Steve “Naïve” Withrow; and on drums, Rayy’s brother, the late John Prizmic. Witches Hammer’s name may not have been widely known during the band’s existence, but they were a crucial piece of the Vancouver extreme metal scene, most notably through their influence on the members of Blasphemy. (Banco would, of course, later play guitar for Blasphemy on the legendary Fallen Angel of Doom album.)

In the early 2000s, Nuclear War Now! worked with Banco to re-release Witches Hammer’s demos and self-titled EP, as well as the previously unreleased MLP the band recorded in 1988. Indeed, NWN!’s relationship with Witches Hammer is one of the longest-running associations the label has established through the years. In 2018, Banco and Crude decided it was time to revive the band and assembled a new lineup capable of delivering the blistering, sinister speed metal for which Witches Hammer is known. Their appearance that same year at the first installment of the Never Surrender fest in Berlin exceeded all expectations, proving that their reemergence was consistent with the band’s legacy without being a sterile imitation of their prior catalog.

The response to the recent Witches Hammer live performances has been uniformly positive, further reinforcing Banco’s and Crude’s resolve to press forward. The result of this effort is the astonishing Damnation Is My Salvation album. The current band’s sound is a perfect extrapolation of the earlier recordings. Witches Hammer delivers the same primitive, evil thrash but slightly blackened and more technical, tastefully reflecting the unavoidable influence of the musical developments during the intervening years, achieving a sound reminiscent of bands like Ares Kingdom and Destroyer 666.

Three songs on “Damnation Is My Salvation” are re-recorded versions of classic tracks from earlier releases; “Frozen God,” “Deadly Mantis,” and the eponymous, “Witches Hammer” all originally appeared on the band’s demos, but are now revived and repurposed for this new lineup. The other tracks, all newly written and recorded, are masterful. Directed by Banco’s virtuosic guitar work, Witches Hammer deliver a searing frenzy of wretched riffs, frenetic bass, and relentless percussion, perfectly complemented by the barbed rasps of Crude’s menacing vocals.

Few bands, if any, have reformed after decades of inactivity to produce such a powerful addition to an already tremendous catalog. With this album, Witches Hammer both reinforces and builds upon its significant legacy.

Hear the previously revealed “Solar Winds” HERE at Nuclear War Now!‘s Bandcamp.

Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Witches Hammer’s Damnation Is My Salvation 1. Across Azeroth 2. Solar Winds
3. Damnation Is My Salvation
4. Within the Halls
5. Frozen God
6. Witches Hammer
7. Deadly Mantis
8. Nine Pillars

 MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/witcheshammerndhc
www.nwnprod.com
www.facebook.com/pages/Nuclear-War-Now-Productions/114864651994141

WITCHES HAMMER (pre-BLASPHEMY) stream full Nuclear War Now album

While toiling in the relative obscurity of an underground scene in British Colombia as its first extreme metal band, Witches Hammer self-produced two demos of evil speed metal in the mid-1980s. Following the second demo, a local label by the name of Subversive Productions offered to release a Witches Hammer 7” EP. The band suggested that a 12” EP would be a better format for both improved audio and visual impact, and the label agreed to the request. In 1987 (that same year), Subversive released the record, packaged in a plain white jacket with the photocopied layout glued to front and back, featuring the artwork of Dax Howell.

Unlike the previous demos, which had been recorded with sole guitarist Marco Banco, the band had recruited a second guitarist in Mike E. Death for the 12” EP. This addition allowed for a more complete sound since it more readily facilitated both rhythm and lead guitar tracks, the combination of which was not present on the demos. Estimates of the number of copies pressed range from 1500 to 5000, but a house fire in the 1990s destroyed the remaining 500 unsold copies. Following this record’s release, the band continued to play local live shows mostly in support of touring acts, in addition to a brief tour across western Canada. During this time, Witches Hammer gained some exposure and was noticed by, among others, Black Winds from the notorious Blasphemy cult, who later cited the band as a primary inspiration.

In 1988, Witches Hammer returned to the studio to record what it had planned to be its debut full-length album. A total of 12 tracks were recorded, including nine tracks that had been previously recorded for prior releases and three brand-new songs – “Inner Sanctum,” Stretching into Infinity,” and “Captain Breakdown” – which collectively were indicative of the band’s continued progression. As with the preceding 12” EP, the band once again summoned Dax Howell to provide the cover art, which was also used for a t-shirt design. As fate would have it, however, the album was never released as originally intended, and these would prove to be the last songs recorded before the band members went their separate ways over the next couple of years.

Fortunately, Nuclear War Now! unearthed the tracks from the unreleased album and released them along with those from the 12” EP in a collection entitled Stretching into Infinity in 2005. Thirteen years later, NWN! is proud to offer a repress of this compilation, once again on 12” vinyl format.

Whereas the earlier demos collected on Canadian Speed Metal offer a glimpse into the early days of a band once described by Pushead as a “speeded-up Venom,” these subsequent recordings showcase a fully-matured Witches Hammer that harnessed the evil of proto-black metal bands like Sodom and infused it with a heavy dose of unhinged aggression, similar to that of the local hardcore bands it regularly gigged with in the area. In 2018, this sound is as potent as ever and quite worthy of the recognition it never fully received outside of the Vancouver area in the band’s heyday.

MORE INFO:
www.nwnprod.com
www.facebook.com/pages/Nuclear-War-Now-Productions/114864651994141