Swiss All-Female Heavy Metal Band BURNING WITCHES Unveils Cover Artwork For 'Hexenhammer'

August 22, 2018

Swiss all-girl heavy metal outfit BURNING WITCHES will release its second album, "Hexenhammer", on November 9 via Nuclear Blast Records. The disc was produced at the Little Creek Studio in Switzerland by the same team as its predecessor: V.O. Pulver (PRO-PAIN, DESTRUCTION, NERVOSA, PÄNZER) and DESTRUCTION frontman Schmier, who helped and advised as a close friend of the band.

The cover artwork for "Hexenhammer" was created by acclaimed artist Gyula Havancsák from Hungary, who has also created artwork for DESTRUCTION, ANNIHLATOR, GRAVE DIGGER, STRATOVARIUS, TANKARD and many more.

The band states: "We are very proud to present you our new album cover for 'Hexenhammer'. The topic is the 'Malleus Maleficarum' book that legalized the extermination of the so-called 'witches' in the medieval times. The justification of murder against the weak is still a sad subject nowadays. So we wanna pay respect and remember — most of the lyrics are dealing with this dark chapter of our history as well. Of course, we also wanted a classic and mystical metal layout that reflects our music perfectly — so it is a great mix. We hope the fans will enjoy it."

Gyula adds: "It is not too easy to make a 'metal' cover when the main character and focus is an attractive woman. It is much easier to create gory images with monsters or devils for me. But I remembered that my first original casette was the WARLOCK 'Triumph And Agony' album, so I felt very motivated to incorporate both of those aspects: some black magic and some beautiful ladies. I got some instructions and a sketch from the band — so I painted the witch and the altar first as a main focus and everybody loved the character and the feeling of the image. When I added the ghost images of the girls, it all aligned into a dark magic artwork with beautiful ladies."

"Hexenhammer" track listing:

01. The Witch Circle
02. Executed
03. Lords Of War
04. Open Your Mind
05. Don't Cry My Tears
06. Maiden Of Steel
07. Dungeon Of Infamy
08. Dead Ender
09. Hexenhammer
10. Possession
11. Maneater
12. Holy Diver

Bonus tracks:

13. Self Sacrifice
14. Don't Cry My Tears (acoustic)

The first trailer from the studio, which includes a teaser for the album's lead single, "Executed", is available below.

"Executed" will be released on August 31.

Schmier previously stated about BURNING WITCHES: "Those ladies sound original, fresh and heavy! I love the classical heavy metal influence and the [Rob] Halford-inspired vocals!

He continued: "The BURNING WITCHES will sure get their fans. Their sound, in between classical [JUDAS] PRIEST and U.S. power metal like ICED EARTH, caught my attention right away."

BURNING WITCHES was founded during spring 2015 in Brugg, Switzerland, by guitar player Romana Kalkuhl. It has always been her big dream to perform with a women's heavy metal band on stage. During the music university studies, she already started her first group together with Kevin Schaffer, with whom she has recorded two albums and played several concerts.

In 2015, Romana started to look for talented ladies for the new combo. Jeanine Grob (bass),a longtime friend, became the first official member. At a party at a festival, Romana met Seraina Telli (singer) for the first time. It clicked right away between the two girls, on a musical and on a personal level. Seraina brought in many ideas and a lot of experience because of her studies at the Music Academy and her band SURRILIUM. The guitarist and the singer became a great songwriting team right away.

Romana wrote Schmier from DESTRUCTION about her new project, and the ladies brought him onboard as a producer/consultant.

After an intensive search and different auditions, BURNING WITCHES found Lala Frischknecht the perfect drummer for the all-girl metal band.

BURNING WITCHES' latest addition is guitarist Sonia Nusselder, who joined the band in January 2018.

BURNING WITCHES is:

Seraina Telli (Vocals)
Romana Kalkuhl (Guitars)
Sonia Nusselder (Guitars)
Jeanine Grob (Bass)
Lala Frischknecht (Drums)

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