BURNING WITCHES are not only the hottest export from the Alpine Republic, the five piece from Switzerland are also one of the most thrilling newcomers in old school heavy metal spanning the last few years - globally! The new album »Hexenhammer« will be released on November 9th, via Nuclear Blast Records.
Today, the band presents the cover artwork for their second studio album. This stunning was visualisation created by acclaimed artist Gyula 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 & 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 & 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.“
The tracklist of »Hexenhammer«
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:
13. Self Sacrifice
14. Don‘t Cry My Tears (acoustic)
The forthcoming record was produced in the Little Creek Studio by the same team as its predecessor: V.O. Pulver (PRO-PAIN, DESTRUCTION, NERVOSA, PÄNZER) and DESTRUCTION legend Schmier, who helped and advised as a close friend of the band. The result is a truly brilliant heavy metal album, which will take away the breath of headbangers worldwide, and of course make people bang their heads!