Vipërwitch blends 80s cult film inspirations with traditional heavy metal roots in their debut album, Witch Hunt: Road to Vengeance. Here's an inside look at their journey.
1. "Witch Hunt:
Road to Vengeance" is your debut full-length album. What was the
inspiration behind this record, and how does it reflect the evolution
of Vipërwitch since your early days?
A lot of
the inspiration came from being raised on a lot of John Carpenter films as well
as a lot of 80s cult action, sci-fi and horror films. Particularly Movies, TV
shows and Comic books such as; Mad Max, Escape from New York, Blade Runner,
Cherry 3000, Alien, Predator, Bram Stoker's Dracula, She Wolves of the
Wasteland (yes that's a film!), Aeon Flux, Red Sonja and Conan! I particularly
always loved the post apocalyptic world and what was to come after societal
collapse. I grew up as a classically trained artist with my metal and punk
bands supplementing the chaos of my younger years and education. Therefore I
fell in love with all of their soundtracks with Titan Composers like Basil
Pouldaris! I was always writing lyrics that followed along these worlds of
Battle, Glory, Sacrifice, War and a touch of gore! I started writing this world
at the start of 2012 and it just started to boil over in about 2016 when I
started to lean into these worlds I was building. Thus the album we have now!
For a moment of time I wasn't really allowed to go full force with it and felt
like it lacked a lot, but I didn't want to step on any toes. However I'm 2019
and the lineup change came, those guys really pushed me in the direction to let
loose. To take up the space and do what I wanted to do. I always told myself
you only have one shot to do something correctly, you better come heavy and
hard and hold nothing back. There are no re-dos! And that statement right there
is why it took us so long but I'm so incredibly glad we did. I would say the
band has finally evolved into my exact vision that I had many years ago and I'm
so fortunate and lucky to have these guys by my side doing this wild shit with
me!
2. The
album features guest appearances from members of Celestial Wizard and Anubis.
How did these collaborations come about, and what do you think they added to
the overall sound of the record?
We do and it's been absolutely fantastic. I've always believed that heavy metal in particular will always be a community project and some of the best music was created with that simple fact in mind. I wanted to allow anyone who believed in the project to step in and take part with it, leaving a piece of themselves in heavy metal history! Honestly each and every one of these guests came to me and asked, how could you say no? They're all fantastic musicians within their own genres and it felt incredibly important and appropriate to have them partake! I believe to add so much life and so much color! Sure I could have done all the vocals and all the guitar parts completely alone but I don't like being alone especially as an only child. When you create a band you do it to create friendships and build harmony together, to see what magic can be created with each individual life path, experience and talent. What they brought to the table was not only their best, but their heart and soul. The same heart and soul that supported and pushed me and this idea through the darkest times as I made my way out of those swamps with them by my side. To me I believe they brought something more than just special they helped make this album what it is! Brother and sisterhood arm in arm and you can really feel it along with their insanely creative and talented work. Devin alone brought Hellhound to life. When I first heard his initial take i cried like a baby. It was like holy fuck, this is it! This is everything I had imagined and even better!! This was the voice in my head, this was everything this song was needing. I still get chills when I listen to it. I still can't believe it's real. It's almost like meeting your best friend, soul mate, or your first pet, they were always supposed to be there and it's everything you had ever imagined, but there here. You can't imagine a world without them now. The same exact goes for all of Wills work, Evans and Nicks! I'd hate to have this album without them or any of these guys for that matter. The album I wrote is about them first and foremost and it just wouldn't be nearly as great and that's been proven.
3. You’ve
titled one of the tracks "The Viperwitch." What’s the story
behind this track, and how does it connect to the band’s identity and mythos?
Well the
entire world at this point has been decimated, rebuilt and tortured by this
ethereal being. Things have somewhat normalized but it's a terrible yet
beautiful place. The entire premise is about being constantly under her and her
reign. Almost like depression, anxiety, fear, abuse.. every single negative
thing we encounter in this world adds up to her and her darkness. The entire
point is to face it and end her to some degree. We all have gone through these
things as humans, we're all haunted, hunted and controlled by this shadow that
looma ever greater than us sometimes. But to face it is the greatest battle we
will ever achieve. The band pushes others to face themselves and their
situations and bring their true identity forward, whatever that is. Shadow vs
shadow, light vs shadow were all 3 dimensional beings experiencing this life in
multi dimensional ways. No one here has that level of power over you other than
yourself, to an extent. And you must fight it, or forever remain a victim of
your world. The Viperwitch will always be there, an uncontrollable
evil, luring humans to do unforsaken things to each other. But she can be
stopped, especially as a community of broken and healed souls.
It's been an absolute honor and a dream for most of us. I particularly grew up on Dokken and Lita Ford, they heavily influenced me as a musician and as a writer (hence Tooth and Nail a homage to one of my favorite albums but also to one of the darkest times in my life and how I fought to get out). For me it was like throwing ourselves to the wolves and bringing the best that we had at the time with what we had. Really figuring out where we wanted to be and eventually how we needed to evolve as a musicians to get there. To see their level of professionalism, it was a quick insight into what we needed to do to really step up our game as Live musicians. Granted absolutely nothing is built within a day and patience is key. If anything this album is a testament to that learning curve. It helped us realize where we were in our career, what we were capable of and what we wanted to commit ourselves to and at what level. Some of us wanted to commit to that larger dream in this genre and some of us didn't and that was okay!! Like I said everybody has a life path and you must live it to your absolute truth. To me that's no harm no foul. I had always wanted those greater things of learning a mark on metal history as a woman, that we don't have to sell sex to sell albums. Something that always severely angered me as a child and as an adult. Why were we minimized to sexuality? I myself not being a sexual creature, felt there had to be more than this bullshit we had gone through as a gender for decades by the music industry. Being separated from our brethren like that was fowl. I digress, mostly I had to finally fight my own demons to succeed. The creatures of the night called imposter syndrome, learning to love myself and have confidence in my craft, to stop being a people pleaser and a consistent willing open host to narcissistic abusers. I knew those demons lurking about would force me to crumble in the harsh music industry and I wasn't going to let myself get in the way ever again. I also had to learn to just let it ride! Stop trying to change and control the music into what people wanted or lower the music quality for others ability levels and wants. To make a stand for what I believed and not lend anyone bend me. More importantly to stop taking criticisms from others that were not conducive to our dreams. Abuse is absolutely no joke and that will destroy any dream you have if you let it. If Lita could get through, so could I.
5. Your
sound is firmly rooted in the New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal (NWOTHM).
What draws you to this particular style, and how do you balance paying homage
to the genre’s roots while keeping your music fresh?
For me it's
pretty simple. I grew up on traditional heavy metal thanks to my musician
parents, I love it, it speaks to me and it's where I naturally write to! The
most important part is to ensure I'm using updated techniques I learned over
the many years from Speed Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Black Metal and Thrash. I
also allow myself the space to learn new production techniques for all over the
metal world. There are so many fantastic bands that still hold on to the
original production and although I love it I wanted to do something different
and help the genre evolve without going too far from its roots. I wanted to
bring new sound into this, therefore the guys who come from all sorts of genres
came in and did what was natural for them! Fortunately it was incredibly easy
which I know is insanely hard to come by. I showed them my vision and it just
worked. Call it luck, call it being on the right path and the right people
showing up for you call it whatever you want but it just simply worked for us!
6. Many
of the tracks on the album, such as "Legend of the Midnight Rider"
and "She Wolves of the Wasteland," have vivid, storytelling elements.
Can you tell us more about the themes and lyrical inspirations behind the
album?
Since it's
a concept album each song is literally a chapter of sorts within the story,
hence the long names. I wanted it to read like a book! Without giving too much
away and spoiling the album I can say once you listen to it it all comes
together rather smoothly. A lot of the themes tap into adventure, fighting
inner demons materialized as villains, battles, guilt, shame, longing for
wholeness and our path as human entities in these dark and troubling times.
What lays ahead for us as a society and where we can write wrongs to quickly
keep us from such an unforsaken path.
7. With
the band being founded by "Lynx the Huntress" and having a strong
lineup of musicians, how does the creative process work within Vipërwitch?
For this
first album I wrote just about everything minus a few synth songs Jason blasted
out of the park as we sat together and I told him my vision, what elements I
wanted, keys and melodies. Blew my mind! Will came in and layed out some of the
most fantastic guitar pieces I had heard in a long time. The guys came in, we
collaborated on their parts roughly to bring life back to these songs as I had
originally intended them to me. We all wanted to rid it of anything from the
last and get it back on track. We listened to my old YouTube videos and
recordings for this and restructured them back to that original writing. I
explained what I would like them to do, but for the most part I let them
creatively go fucking ape shit. I rarely ever said no, if anything I would come
to them saying “ this is fantastic, let's see if we can get more sleaze or can
we make this sound like a motorcycle engine blasting off with drums!” Lol.
Although it was collaborative when it came down to laying their individual
parts to a small degree, it almost felt like one hive mind working together. It
is one of the most fantastic and magical experiences I've ever had as a
musician. Not a single thing they did was out of place, truly imaginative and
beautiful.
8. Is it
a collaborative effort, or does Lynx take the lead on most aspects of
songwriting and production?
I typically
took the lead but I wanted to create a lot of space for them. It's a band after
all and not a solo project. I write the music and they come to me with all the
icing! As per production Jason took the lead and I followed. I spent so much
time learning from scratch how to produce so that I could help him and so I
could grow as a composer myself. I wanted to extend my knowledge and my
abilities so I could become a better writer and step outside of just lyrics,
riffs and composition. I wanted to expand world like Jason had and he was on
onboard the entire time. He, I and Jacob tirelessly sat together when Jason
wasn't alone working, collaborating on what needed adjustments and what we
could add to make it more full. Overall the entire point of being a leader is
bringing people together and then allowing them to bring their best, never
hinder them, never really telling them no to their creative ideas and just
letting them do what they do best. They came for a reason and like I said I'm
so good damn fortunate, their a fantastic team of insanely talented artists and
deserve all the recognition and applause. We wouldn't have had this album
without them!
9. The
album’s release on October 31st—Samhain—carries a strong symbolic meaning in
the context of your music. Why did you choose this date, and how does the
occult or mystical influence come through in your music?
For Jason and I in particular we are both practicing our own belief systems heavily for the last 15 years. In particular Jason and I come from heavy Irish heritage and we do tap into druidic practices within our own work. Samhain is a very special time for us within the Celtic world. It is a time that the veil is thinnest and otherworlds could be seen from this realm. We work with death a lot in a more human sense, but in reality we frequently work with those other realms. Anyone who does any kind of pagan practice knows what I mean by this and I won't divulge too far to keep from being redundant or preaching to a choir. I could spend hours and hours talking about this. Therefore I would happily do another interview to dig further to anyone who asks! Not only is this holiday incredibly special to us on the aspects of our ancestors, our lineage, our practices, our gods, our Fae and our souls but what better time to tell a story about other worlds than this when the veil is thinnest and we can view it. Without spoiling the album too much once you listen to it, read the storyline and read along with an interview I did with The NWOTHM on their website; you'll see the occult world come out in broad daylight. As broadly pronounced as ever. Therefore It's a very moody and magical album.
10. Vipërwitch
has come a long way since competing in the Wacken USA Battle of the Bands. What
are some of the most significant lessons you’ve learned on your journey as a
band, and how have they impacted the making of this album?
It has been
a long time and it's helped us grow quite a lot. I'm incredibly thankful for
losing at that last round as weird as that sounds to others. We're never here
to be punished, we're only here to learn things and those opportunities us
painful as they can be are probably the most important ones we learn. I learned
who we were, who I was, where I wanted to be as a human being on my path of
healing and learning, who I wanted to share my life with as a highly empathic
person in the spectrum, what path I wanted to take in life and where I wanted
to go and whom with. It helped me escape quite a lot at the time and into the
hands of incredibly warm, kind, emotionally intelligent, truly good-hearted
honest and talented people. With that the band felt almost secondary and came
so easily. All the dreams and all the goals just started happening after that.
And because of that we now have this album I can truly say I am so incredibly
proud of and honored to have in this lifetime, let alone give back to the community
for once in my life. I can never write another album again and I would be
completely content! However the guys have so many plans on I can't wait to
continue the collaboration that we've had. I finally feel like I don't have to
ride alone and the burden of that isn't weighing on my shoulders. It feels as
if I have a team and we have one goal in mind. Has we not lost that competition
we wouldn't be here today. The band would have crashed and crumbled and I would
have had to start over far more than I already had to. As a professional
athlete my entire life losses are just that, simple losses, and therefore they
have a lot to gain from and this was one of those lessons. So if you go through
hard times, you lose battles, whatever it is, remember that the rune Dagaz
always follows after Hagalaz. Day will always come, it won't always be like
this and if you stand strong and hard like Isa you'll come out on top! Learn
what you can from those losses; they're only there to keep you on the right
path, not take you off. Your higher self or whatever your beliefs are and who
is looking out for you, will always keep you moving towards your higher self,
even if it's painful. Many of us stand on structures that are flawed to begin
with. Let them fall, learn and rebuild more enforceable pillars to your
absolute truth. Be thankful for the hard times, in between the tears and pain,
you will heal greater, stronger and more stable when you come out. They say
birds of a feather flock together, if you build it they will come. Surround
yourself with people who YOU want to be, not around people like crabs in a
bucket who will tear you down to keep you down below. Let those good people
find you, mend you and support you. Give into self love and guard it with
everything you have. Just keep learning, listening, changing and evolving
alongside them. Hold onto them with that dire hard loyalty that you may have
once given to the false gods and false masters and protect them and yourself
love at all costs.
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