Burning Witches | |
|---|---|
 Burning Witches at Rockharz Open Air 2019 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Brugg, Aargau, Switzerland |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2015-present |
| Labels |
|
| Members |
|
| Past members |
|
| Website | Official website |
Burning Witches is a Swiss heavy/power metal band, founded by rhythm guitarist Romana Kalkuhl, based in Brugg, Aargau.
Romana Kalkuhl, guitarist with Atlas & Axis, had been looking for a cast for an all-female metal band for a long time. Over the years, she got to know different musicians and finally found the first cast with bassist Jeanine Grob, drummer Lala Frischknecht and lead singer Seraina Telli. In 2016, guitarist Alea Wyss completed the lineup. First came a self-titled single, which was also the band's first demo. This was voted "Demo of the Month" in both Rock Hard and Metal Hammer. [1] [2]
In 2017, Burning Witches released their self-titled debut album in-house, directed by V.O. Pulver (Poltergeist, Gurd) and Marcel "Schmier" Schirmer (Destruction). The album was distributed through the crowdfunding platform Pledge Music. With the song Jawbreaker, the album contains a cover version of a song by Judas Priest. [3] The album reached number 73 in the Swiss album charts. Shortly after the release, Burning Witches began songwriting for their next album. On 14 February 2018, Nuclear Blast announced they had signed the band.
In the meantime, Wyss was replaced by Sonia 'Anubis' Nusselder from the Netherlands. A tour as the opening act for Grave Digger followed. A first album trailer was released on 12 September 2018. Three digital singles followed. The album Hexenhammer was released on 9 November 2018. It is not a concept album in the strict sense, although the book of the same name plays a role in some songs. With Holy Diver by the band Dio there is again a cover version on the album. [4] The album reached number 43 in the German album charts and number 21 in Switzerland. In June 2019, singer Seraina Telli left the band to focus on her own band, Dead Venus. She was succeeded by Dutch singer Laura Guldemond from the band Shadowrise. [5]
In the Summer of 2019, Burning Witches played at the Wacken, Summer Breeze and Rockharz Open Air festivals. The album Dance with the Devil, produced by Pulver and Schirmer, was released on 6 March 2020. The album features a cover version of the Manowar song Battle Hymn, which features guest musicians Ross the Boss and Michael Lepond. [6] Dance with the Devil entered the German and Swiss album charts at number 22 and 14 respectively. A few months later, Nusselder left the band after founding the death metal band Crypta with former Nervosa musicians Fernanda Lira and Luana Dametto. [7] Larissa Ernst then took over as lead guitarist.
On 4 December, the band released The Circle of Five EP before recording their fourth studio album, The Witch of the North. The album was again produced by Schirmer and mixed and mastered by V.O. Powder. The album was released on 28 May 2021. [8] The album entered the German and Swiss album charts at number 16 and 6 respectively. In February 2022, the band signed a new record deal with the Austrian record label Napalm Records. [9] Their first tour of the United States with The Iron Maidens occurred in 2022. [10]
Burning Witches is mainly influenced by the heavy metal of the 1980s, while the musicians also listen to other music. Among other things, Sonia 'Anubis' Nusselder also played in the death metal band Sephiroth. Nusselder is currently the lead guitarist of the band Cobra Spell . Musically, the band is reminiscent of Iron Maiden, Alice Cooper and Judas Priest. [1] [4]
Current
| Former
|
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GER | CHE | ||||
| Burning Witches |
| - | 73 | ||
| Hexenhammer |
| 43 | 21 | ||
| Dance with the Devil |
| 22 | 14 | ||
| The Witch of the North |
| 16 | 6 | ||
| The Dark Tower |
| 20 | 3 | ||
Manowar is an American heavy metal band from Auburn, New York. Formed in 1980, the group is known for lyrics based on fantasy and mythology, as well as numerous songs celebrating the genre and its core audience. The band is also known for a loud and emphatic sound. In an interview for MTV in February 2007, bassist Joey DeMaio lamented that "these days, there's a real lack of big, epic metal that is drenched with crushing guitars and choirs and orchestras... so it's nice to be one of the few bands that's actually doing that". In 1984, the band was included in the Guinness Book of World Records for delivering the loudest performance, a record which they have since broken on two occasions. They also hold the world record for the longest heavy metal concert after playing for five hours and 1 minute in Bulgaria in 2008. They also have been known for their slogan "Death to false metal".
Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in Meriden, West Midlands in 1981. None of the band's original members have been in the group since 1986, but since Utopia Banished (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris, drummer Danny Herrera and lead vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway has remained consistent through most of the band's career. From 1989 to 2004, Napalm Death were a five-piece band after they added Jesse Pintado and Mitch Harris as replacements for guitarist Bill Steer. Following Pintado's departure, the band reverted to a four-piece.
Meshuggah is a Swedish extreme metal band formed in Umeå in 1987. Since 2004, the band's lineup consists of founding members Jens Kidman (vocals) and Fredrik Thordendal (guitar), alongside guitarist Mårten Hagström, drummer Tomas Haake and bassist Dick Lövgren. Since its formation, the band has released nine studio albums, six EPs and eight music videos. Their latest studio album, Immutable, was released in April 2022 via Atomic Fire Records.
Suffocation is an American death metal band formed in 1988 in Centereach, New York, currently consisting of lead guitarist Terrance Hobbs, bassist Derek Boyer, rhythm guitarist Charlie Errigo, drummer Eric Morotti, and vocalist Ricky Myers. The band rose to prominence with their 1991 debut album Effigy of the Forgotten, which became a blueprint for death metal in the 1990s. Since then, Suffocation has recorded eight albums. These feature growled vocals with downtuned guitars, fast and complex guitar riffs and drumming, open chord notes and occasional breakdowns.
My Dying Bride are an English doom metal band formed in Bradford. Since their inception in 1990, they have released 15 studio albums, five EPs, one demo, one box set, four compilation albums, one live album, and one live CD/DVD release.
Soilwork is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Helsingborg. They are signed to Nuclear Blast. Formed in late 1995 by Björn Strid and Peter Wichers, originally under the name Inferior Breed, the band changed their name in late 1996 to Soilwork.
Kataklysm is a Canadian death metal band. They have released fourteen studio albums, one EP and two DVDs as of 2020. Kataklysm won their first Juno Award for best album of the year in the "heavy metal" category for their 2015 album Of Ghosts and Gods.
Carcass are an English extreme metal band from Liverpool, formed in 1985. The band have gone through several line-up changes, leaving guitarist Bill Steer and bassist-vocalist Jeff Walker as the only constant members. They broke up in 1996, but reformed in 2007 without original drummer Ken Owen, for health reasons. To date, the band have released seven studio albums, two compilation albums, four EPs, two demo albums, one video album, and six music videos.
Destruction is a German thrash metal band formed in 1982. They have been credited as one of the "Big Four" of the German thrash metal scene, the others being Kreator, Sodom and Tankard. In addition to helping pioneer black metal, Destruction was part of the second wave of thrash metal in the mid-to-late 1980s, along with American bands Testament, Sacred Reich, Death Angel and Dark Angel. For most of the 1990s, the band was not signed to a record label and self-produced their albums until they signed a contract with Nuclear Blast in the early 2000s.
Arsis is an American death metal band from Virginia Beach, Virginia, formed in 2000. The band is currently signed to Nuclear Blast.
Belphegor is an Austrian blackened death metal band from Salzburg. They originally formed in 1991 under the name Betrayer before changing their name in 1993, deriving their current name from the demon of the same name.
Brutality is an American death metal band from Tampa, Florida. The group was signed to Nuclear Blast Records in the 1990s.
Bleed the Sky is an American heavy metal band formed in Orange County, California, in 2002.
Marc Rizzo is an American musician, best known as the former lead guitarist of metal band Soulfly. He has featured on eight Soulfly albums: Prophecy, Dark Ages, Conquer, Omen, Enslaved, Savages, Archangel, and Ritual. He has also released five solo instrumental albums: Marc Rizzo, Colossal Myopia, The Ultimate Devotion, Legionnaire, and Rotation. Rizzo is also a member of Cavalera Conspiracy, a side project with the co-founders of Sepultura, Max and Igor Cavalera. The band released their debut album Inflikted in 2008, Blunt Force Trauma in 2011 and Pandemonium in 2014. In March 2015, it was announced that Rizzo was playing guitar for Misfits. His only show with the band so far took place at Dutch Comic Con. He was known to wear, in the early years, a backpack on stage during the shows.
Fleshgod Apocalypse is an Italian symphonic death metal band. Formed in 2007, the group resides in Perugia and are currently signed to Nuclear Blast. They have released five full-length albums.
Orchid is an American doom metal band founded in San Francisco, California, United States, in 2007. The band consists of Theo Mindell, Mark Thomas Baker (guitar), Keith Nickel and Tommy Rickard (drums). They are named after the Black Sabbath song of the same name.
Alissa White-Gluz is a Canadian singer, best known as the lead vocalist of the Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy, and former lead vocalist and founding member of the Canadian metalcore band the Agonist. Her vocal style includes both growling and clean vocals (singing). Although primarily associated with melodic death metal and metalcore, she has appeared as a guest vocalist for power metal, symphonic metal and deathcore bands, notably Kamelot, Delain, Carnifex and Powerwolf, and has performed live with Nightwish and Tarja Turunen.
Crypta is a Brazilian death metal band formed in São Paulo in 2019. The band consists of bassist-vocalist Fernanda Lira, drummer Luana Dametto, lead guitarist Jéssica di Falchi and rhythm guitarist Tainá Bergamaschi.
Echoes of the Soul is the debut studio album by Brazilian all-female death metal band Crypta. It was recorded throughout January 2021 at the Family Mob Studio in São Paulo, Brazil, mastered at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden, and was released on 11 June 2021 through Napalm. To date, it is the only album of the band to feature Dutch guitarist Sonia "Anubis" Nusselder. The songs "From the Ashes", "Starvation" and "Dark Night of the Soul" were also released as singles.
Seraina Telli is a Swiss singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist in the rock, hard rock, heavy metal and progressive rock genres. She was the female vocalist of Rizon from 2010 to 2014, and the lead vocalist of Surrillum (2011–2017) and Burning Witches (2015–2019). Since her departure from Burning Witches in 2019, she has been focusing on her band Dead Venus and her solo career.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
