Witches Hammer are an obscure band of Canadian origin formed in 1984. Playing a type of Speed Metal that often crosses over into Black, Death and Thrash territories too, they are the epitome of extremity. Below I talk to frontman Rayy Crude about the band’s history, present and future for you sick maniacs to read!
- Hey Rayy, how’s things over there? Can you give us bangers a brief introduction and history of Witches Hammer?
Hey Jørgen, all is well here! Spring is here and soon the sun will scorch us dry.
Witches Hammer started out as Oblivion originally but I joined when Marco Banco (the original mastermind) and Allan Gauder (first bass player) took out an ad in “The Georgia Straight” newspaper, a local Vancouver arts and music paper, saying “Looking for vocalist and drummer for a band in the style of Slayer, Motörhead and Venom.” This was March of ’84 if I remember correctly and was the first time I ever saw an ad like that in any paper in Vancouver. I was trying and looking to start a heavy band in that vein for a couple years but to no avail and as it worked out I was the only to answer the ad and so Marco, Allan and I met a couple days later. I brought in my brother Johnny as the drummer and behold the “first” lineup of Witches Hammer was born. We changed the name to Witches Hammer after Marco wrote the song. We thought it sounded cool/different, and also kept the metal tradition of naming your band after a song. - From forming in 1984 there was a handful of three demos and an EP during the years 1985-1987. These tapes showed a promising start for the band with several songs reappearing such as “Gorgon”. What were these early steps like and can you illustrate this moment of the band for those of us (like myself) who were not even born yet.
We recorded our first demo, second demo and the Subversive EP all at Fiasco Bros recording studio in New Westminster BC which for us at the time was huge! We didn’t really know what we were doing and neither did our engineer because this type of music was still pretty underground and new to most people. So the sound of the first two demos were pretty much an accident as with most recordings back then. Nobody new what the Fuck they were doing which made it even more epic. The third demo you are referring to was called “Damn Fuckin’ Rights” was just a compilation of the first two demos. It was just easier to distribute that way since the copies of the original two demos were all gone. - Following the tapes, the band’s eponymous EP “Witches Hammer” came which is a brutal and intense burst of feral mayhem. What was the sound and feeling you guys were trying to portray and do you feel this cult gem has stood the test of time for you? For us fans it clearly is still one we care about.
The EP recording, we call it the Subversive EP, we kind of had an idea of what we wanted and still the way the sound turned out was pretty much just left to the Godz and we were just happy to get something out on vinyl. It came pretty close to how we sounded live back then, raw, powerful, fast and heavy. Which we still have today even with different people in the band. At the time we were happy with it but did we know it would still have an impact and be appreciated all this time later? Fuck no. But I am humbled that people feel that way still. - No sooner did things appear to be going well than the band disappeared until the turn of the millennium. What was the cause of this long hiatus despite the band clearly growing and improving?
We recorded our full length album at Fiasco Bros again which was originally called “Bounds of Freedom” then later released on NWN Productions as the “Stretching Into Infinity” LP in 2005, but we kind of hit a wall and just seemed like we couldn’t gain any traction. A couple labels showed some interest in putting out the LP but that never materialised. We were at a point where playing local shows and just doing short tours around western Canada just didn’t cut it anymore. We needed to go do a 60 date tour in support of an album, cut our chops and see what kind of band we were and could be. Since that wasn’t going to happen we called it a day. - Several compilations of your classic material and a new EP came along in the early 2000s. But still no new material… Seeing the interest in the band at the time, were you not tempted to reform and make new music? Or maybe you did and nothing materialised? Can you fill in this blank from the bands semi-active period.
When NWN started to put out our music again we, actually Marco and Steve started to jam with a drummer, since Johnny our original drummer had passed, whose name I can’t remember, but it did not work out for whatever reason. I never sat in any of the sessions, it just never came to that point. So we just left it alone. - Out of nowhere, in 2020, came the debut album “Damnation Is My Salvation”. 36 years into a band’s career and a debut album drops, not a typical occurrence. But despite the long history and minimal output, fans were ecstatic to hear this mysterious first LP. Myself and many others were surprised by just how crushing and excellent the record was. What went into this ferocious masterpiece? Tell us about the recording, the ideas, the chemistry and how you feel about the album now!
The whole idea for the Damnation LP came out of Marco finding some old practice tapes of songs he and Johnny, original drummer, had written and jammed back in the 80’s. Marco thought these were deserving of being recorded and put out there. He enlisted Steve Sinned, our current drummer extraordinaire, who he had worked with in his previous band Tyrants Blood (check them out Fucking crushing!). They started jamming sent me some recordings of the songs with just the two of them, asked me what I thought and I replied “lets Fuckin’ do it”. From there we asked Steve Nieve (bass player from the 80’s) and Mike Death (second guitarist from the 80’s) if they wanted back in but they had to pass for health reasons. So we recruited AJ Kovar on bass from Pathetic (killer band) and Jesse Jardine from Assimilation (Steve also drums in this band; they are excellent) on second guitar. Right away we got asked to play a few shows/ festivals, then we proceeded to record Damnation at the “Steve Sinned Studio” which is actually our practice at Steve’s house/shop in Langley. also known as the “Witches Hammer clubhouse”. We recorded it live off the floor, both albums Damnation and Devourer of the Dead were done that way. We wanted to achieve the early 80’s vibe/sound like Hell Awaits or Haunting the Chapel. Very happy with how they turned out, both will stand the test of time I think. - The following year, “Devourer Of The Dead” came. A second album in two years? Now it seems too good to be true! This one was also phenomenal. Were the ideas conceived alongside the debut or did the huge reception to its predecessor give inspiration? If there was much difference in process, please tell us about it!
Other than the final mix, Devourer of the Dead, was recorded pretty much the same way. We tried to bring the drums up a bit more and maybe have a bit crisper tighter sound overall, which I think Marco, Jesse and Joe (our engineer) did accomplish. It was all pretty much written all beforehand as was Damnation, and we had been playing a few of the songs live beforehand. We also for both albums chose songs from the past demos and gave them a proper recording. Since the Subversive EP was our only “official” album ever released we still viewed the NWN releases as demos and other than the EP they were all incomplete recordings. The “Bounds of Freedom” songs never even got properly mixed in the end, we just ran out of money to finish it. So it was important to give these songs their due. - Except for a reissue of the S/T EP (renamed as “Subversive” with a remastering treatment), there has been quiet for 3 years. Are we getting a 3rd album or something else? Will there be tours to hammer the nail into skulls live for maniacs dying to see the band?
We plan to record one more album and are just in the process of getting it together. Not sure when we will actually start the recording of it but it is in the works. We all live in different parts of the province so sometimes it’s like herding cats to get us all together. Life does get in the way sometimes but an album will come out and we will be playing shows in the future. - Last words are yours mate! Thanks for the interview!
Thanks for letting us plague the pages of your magazine. It still blows me away that people like you and your readers are interested and care for our band after all this time. For those people just discovering us from this article check us out on Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you stream your music. also a few well shot live videos of us on YouTube. Plus we are on Instagram and Facebook and if you’re interested in any merch please DM us on either platform. All our LP’s, tapes or CD’s are available through NWN Productions at www.nwnprod.com so go check it out.
Cheers to you all!
Thanks again, hope to meet you one day. Ray
There you have it, another cult legend of Heavy Metal covered. Alongside Cirith Ungol, Satan and Angel Witch; Witches Hammer have one of the most legendary, if obscure, comebacks in the genre.
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