New ARKHAM WITCH releases (Nov. 2015)

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New ARKHAM WITCH releases (Nov. 2015)

Beitragvon Jowita » 3. Dezember 2015, 23:12

At the Hammer of Doom festival we had 3 new ARKHAM WITCH CDs (though only 2 released by us - and one of them being a reissue): the 3rd full-length "I Am Providence", "Legions of the Deep Respawned" (re-release of this sold out album from 2012, remastered and with 3 bonus tracks) and we also had (and still have) some copies of the band's self-released "Weird Tales" EP.

If one thing can be said about this album, it's that the shift in style is quite noticeable. While it pretty much still sounds like ARKHAM WITCH, that is: it's predominantly old school British Heavy Metal rooted in the '70s and '80s tradition, most of the doom elements present on their previous releases are subdued here and replaced with some punk (MISFITS style) and thrash/crossover (M.O.D. style) leanings, showing through in the melodic choruses with backing vocals and an overall lighter feel, but also in some thrashy chunky riffs delivering the punches. It's obvious that the band had a lot of fun while creating these songs. It will probably divide the fans and alienate some doom and heavy metalheads, but we're talking about tastes and opinions here, so we won't be surprised if some people will find this new album even better than their previous ones. When you first hear these songs they may leave you confused or even flabbergasted, but give this album more than one full spin and you may be rocking out to it very soon!
I'll be honest, when we first heard "I Am Providence" (at that time it was 70 minutes long!) we had rather mixed feelings, but now we're enjoying the heck out of most* of these songs, singing along and just having fun... Well, meanwhile we had suggested to the band that they take some of those 31 songs and release them as an EP**, which they agreed to ("Weird Tales" EP was out on the same day!), so now the album is just 48 minutes long and has 20 tracks (yes, they are pretty short, often around 2 minutes). And the lyrics (all songs are based on Lovecraft stories) are a big added value! So, don't let the initial shock deter you, give it a few spins, it might just click, as this album is definitely a grower. Musically, it bears some similarities to bands like THE LAMP OF THOTH, DEEP SWITCH, HELL, TANK, MISFITS, THE BLOOD, BLUE Ă–YSTER CULT, MANILLA ROAD, CIRITH UNGOL and M.O.D., but it is a very peculiar album, and one that is best consumed together with your favourite booze!

* There's just one song we were really against having on the album, the acoustic piano/keyboards piece with female vocals ("Rats in the Walls"). But the band was very strongly insisting on keeping it. Well, there's always the "skip" button. :cool2:

** We chose the heavier songs for the album, suggesting the lighter and more melodic punk and rock'n'roll / less metal ones for
"Weird Tales", however there are still songs on the EP which we would have gladly had on the album (instead of 2-3 songs which landed on it), like "Under Stranger Skies"- one of the best tracks in our opinion (but also "Fungi from Yuggoth" because of the genius "Hey-ho Mi-Go!"... and "A Lurking Fear" IF it hadn't had those whoa-oh-ohs ;) ...while "A Kult That Never Dies" is kind of neutral for us). We had to compromise though - it also wouldn't be fair to take all the more metal tracks for our release and leave only the mostly melodic punk styled songs for their EP. :tong2: The most important thing is that it's not a 70+ minutes album with 31 tracks, as that would have made it much more difficult to digest.

Here's what Simon, the band's vocalist and songwriter, had to say about "I Am Providence": "It's definitely a continuation in the style of "The Lord of R'lyeh" and "Kult of Kutulu" - that kind of fun take on the pulpy side of Lovecraft and a sheer musical celebration of the man and his imagination and legacy in popular culture rather than an attempt to imitate in music his cosmic viewpoints and eldritch atmospheres."
Guitarist Aldo also commented: "I just want to add on behalf of myself and the rest of the gang that this has been one fun album to do. I don't want to scare all our fans and give too much away, but it's going to sound a lot different to our previous releases. We are NOT changing our style or wanting to progress into something different. Simon just simply started writing the songs for the album in a very cool different approach and the rest of us went with the flow! The result... well, if Lovecraft was around today, he'd be cruising around in his car, blasting out this album full volume and banging his head!"

Check this short promo clip for "I Am Providence" (featuring "Cthulhu Arise!" song):



Since there are 20 songs on this album, we made double amount as usual available online - there are 4 songs on our YouTube channel, and 6 on Bandcamp (where the album is available for digital purchase). You can see the whole track list and find out more about "I Am Providence" on the page of the release.

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(Cover art by yours truly)
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Jowita
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Re: New ARKHAM WITCH releases (Nov. 2015)

Beitragvon Jowita » 4. Dezember 2015, 18:41

The 2nd album of ARKHAM WITCH "Legions of the Deep", originally released in November 2012, has been sold out since some time and there's been still a significant demand for it, so we've decided to re-release it. The reissue is titled "Legions of the Deep Respawned", it has been remastered and includes 3 live bonus tracks, 2 of which are previously unreleased songs ("Shadow of the Vampire" and "Yog-Sothoth" have never been recorded).

You can check more info about "Legions of the Deep Respawned" and listen to 5 tracks on the page of the release.

The CD is available from our SHOP also in convenient bundles with "I Am Providence" CD and with "Weird Tales" EP.

If you don't collect CDs, you can buy the album as digital download (in lossless formats) from Bandcamp.
ATTENTION: on iTunes, Amazon MP3, eMusic and all other retailers CD Baby is distributing to, including Spotify, there is and will be only the original version from 2012 (without bonus tracks and with different mastering).

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Jowita
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Re: New ARKHAM WITCH releases (Nov. 2015)

Beitragvon Jowita » 13. Dezember 2015, 19:39

I know there's a thread about the new ARKHAM WITCH stuff on this forum (and an even longer one on Deaf Forever forum), but both are in German. It would be great if you who have the new CDs could post some opinions here too! :cool2:
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Jowita
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Beiträge: 158
Registriert: 1. März 2011, 22:02
Wohnort: Italy



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