ABOUT
Witchskull blend NWOBHM laced traditional doom with the aggression that you would expect a 3-piece Australian band to deliver. This energy, coupled with an authentic insight into the occult to create mesmerising lyrics, has won the band plenty of interest worldwide.
The story essentially began in 2015 with the band intending to record a demo at Melbourne’s Goatsound Studios with Jason Fuller (Blood Duster), and ended up recording 8 songs that became their debut album The Vast Electric Dark…In just 3 days.
With no expectations the album went on to top the storied Doom Charts, received an incredible boutique vinyl release through America’s STB label, and received a worldwide release through Ripple Music to a slew of album of the year nods and rapturous reviews.
Buoyed by this response, the band considerably upped the ante for their second album, Coven’s Will.
Travelling to New York’s Studio G in Brooklyn with one of doom metal’s best producer/engineers Billy Anderson (Sleep, Eyehategod, Cathedral), and their 'right hand man' Jason Fuller, the band set out to make the album they always wanted. Live to tape, no click tracks and most tracks captured in one take. The results speak for themselves. Pure, in-your-face, no frills traditional doom metal delivered with primal aggression.
At the end of the recording process, Witchskull made its international live debut headlining New York’s famed St Vitus Bar.
Coven’s Will struck a chord with several international labels, but once an offer from Lee Dorrian’s revered Rise Above Records arrived, the choice was simple.
The album was released in June 2018 and received overwhelmingly positive reviews, including a full page spread in the universally acclaimed metal bible ‘Metal Hammer’.
Witchskull unleashed videos for both ‘Raven’ and ‘Breathing Blue Light’ from Coven’s Will.
The following 18 months were spent touring Australia and New Zealand and writing the follow up for Coven’s Will. It was decided that the northern hemisphere was going to have to wait a little longer to witness the band live.
Late 2019 saw Witchskull enter the studio to record their 3rd (second for Rise Above Records) offering, titled A Driftwood Cross due out 24 April 2020. The new video for ‘This Silent Place’ has just been released. There is little doubt that this record will deliver the goods on every level. The stars have aligned and Witchskull are set to leave a significant scar upon the earth!
NEWS
22 February 2021
What a blast! Thanks so much to everyone who came to the White Eagle shows over the weekend. Finally seeing you all standing for a show was a sight for sore eyes, and as usual you were as vocal and supportive as always. Nothing better than playing your home town, especially with our good friends Dead Lazarus, so cheers!
A monumental thanks to the 20 plus crew involved in making this show happen. Gaz, Wayne, Mick and Sam from the Greenroom who went above and beyond to deliver a killer sound system and lighting rig and absolutely nailed the old-school aesthetic and sound production we were hoping to achieve. Roger, Rich, Johnny, Andy and Tom who spent both nights filming it all and will now begin the arduous task a cutting it all together. A huge job ahead, so we are eternally grateful for your expertise and patience. Rusty, Liv, Nicole, Eric, Richie, Matt, Josh and Roy who are always there for us and who we love dearly. Thanks to Maggie for joining us onstage as she did on the recording of 'A Driftwood Cross'. Thanks to Andrew and all of the staff at The White Eagle for making the whole process a breeze and finally all of the punters and good friends of ours who travelled many miles and consumed many Polish beers in the process. Hopefully this won’t be the last time.
1 December 2020
JUST ANNOUNCED! Witchskull will be “Live at the White Eagle” in February 2021. We promise to deliver something a little different, reminiscent of gigs back in the 1980’s and ‘90’s. This marks our live return and first appearance at The Polish Club. The concept is to bring a full production sound system and a healthy bank of old (and new) lights to create the atmosphere of shows from back in the day. There will be a full professional film crew capturing the event with a DVD (or perhaps VHS) planned for release later in the year…This promises to be a memorable tilt of the hat to the early days and one you don’t want to miss. There are still strict capacity limitations due to Covid, so get in quick!
21 October 2020
A huge thanks to the National Live Music Awards 2020 for nominating us in the “Best Live Act” category, and eternal thanks to everyone who voted for us to achieve our win. Thank you to The Basement and Canberra Theatre Centre in Canberra & The Crowbar in Sydney for supporting live music in the most difficult of times. We have so many people to thank for their ongoing support, both personally and within the industry, and we hope to see you all as soon as we can venture further afield. We have some big things planned for early 2021.
14 October 2020
It was brilliant to get back to Sydney and play two shows at Crowbar with our good friends Sworn Sober and Lucifungus. As unusual as it is playing to a fully seated audience we’re just happy that gigs are happening in any capacity. The Crowbar crew looked after us, and the Sydney punters were as awesome as always, so thanks to all involved for helping make it a great weekend. We have no more shows booked for 2020, but hopefully things open up further in 2021 so we can get to Melbourne and beyond as soon as possible!
5 August 2020
Huge thanks to everyone who came out for our two “A Driftwood Cross” album launch shows at the Basement. It was amazing to play the new album in its entirety to our home crowd with the help of our good friends Sworn Sober and Juggernaut. We are eternally grateful to The Basement and their staff, especially Mikey, for looking after us so well. We are very lucky to have venues of this quality still operating in such difficult times. Great to have a drink with you all, and we hope to do it all again soon! Cheers.
22 June 2020
2nd Canberra Album Launch announced for Saturday 1 August. If you missed out on tickets for the 1st show, get on to this one quickly.
19 June 2020
Our first official launch show for ‘A Driftwood Cross’ has just been announced. We will be playing The Basement in Canberra on Saturday 25 July with Sworn Sober and Juggernaut. This show will be capped at 100 tickets due to ongoing restrictions. We are really looking forward to playing again so hope to see you there.
12 May 2020
NEW MERCH ALERT! Witchskull badges/pins are available on our Bandcamp site.
24 April 2020
Our third album 'A Driftwood Cross' was released today through Rise Above Records.
22 April 2020
Our new video for 'This Silent Place' is being premiered through Metal Injection
18 April 2020
We have new merch available! A killer new design by Xavier Irvine and a re-tweek of our first t-shirt design by Glenno. Merch is available on Bandcamp:
https://witchskull.bandcamp.com/merch
11 March 2020
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT - Our third album 'A Driftwood Cross' will be released on 24 April through Rise Above Records.
10 March 2020
New Zealand was as memorable for us as the last time we toured there, but this time we were able to share the experience with our good friends POTION. We finally got to play Whammy Bar in Auckland with a couple of NZ’s finest (Brackenwood Coven and Bloodnut) and we couldn’t have had a better time. We were blown away with the people and bands and were overwhelmed how many came out on a Thursday night, so thank you Auckland...Next stop Christchurch! Unfortunately, Swamp Dweller were unable to play but thankfully they suggested Snailrider to join us at the Darkroom. These guys went above and beyond to help us out and played a killer set so we can’t thank the staff, bands and punters enough for coming out and supporting these shows.
Saturday morning, we flew into Wellington and made our way to Upper Hutt for Obey the Riff. Words can’t describe how well put together this festival is and we can’t thank Nathan from Beastwars and Rebecca from Panhead Custom Ales enough for their hospitality and support. At 6pm we hit the stage and gave everything we had, then some. We were definitely riding the same wave as everyone there and played one of our most enjoyable sets thanks to the incredible support of the Wellington/Upper Hutt locals. Some incredible bands played throughout the afternoon, with a pretty varied mix of styles. It was great seeing and hanging with End Boss again while also getting the chance to meet Linen, The Schizophonics and Earth Tongue. Potion were even more sonically pounding than usual thanks to an amazing PA run by a great bunch of guys. Potion are fast becoming one of Australia’s best and seeing them at Obey the Riff was absolutely killer. Nothing could have prepared us for the Mighty Beastwars on their home turf at their own festival though! They are truly one of the best live bands we have ever seen. This was our 7th show supporting them, and the finest one we’ve witnessed. They have the ability to punish you at will by drawing you into their groove vortex, hold you until the final note, then leave you wondering what the fuck happened. They must be close to the best NZ band of all time and are 4 of the best people you could ever meet. Legends.
It’s a big ask to follow Beastwars at any time let alone at Obey the Riff, but that was the task for Uncle Acid. As expected, they delivered exactly what the punters were anticipating. They were well received and capped off a killer day. After show drinks followed with UA and the Panhead Custom Ales peeps who looked after us as only the Kiwi’s can, so a nice way to finish off another perfect day.
We took Sunday off to hang at the Newtown Festival and watch POTION one last time before heading home Monday afternoon. If you are yet to see these guys in action, you really should check them out. Most definitely one of the best bands in Oz right now. Big things await I’m sure!
NZ is an amazing country with the most chilled out awesome people you’ll ever have the good fortune to meet. Thanks to everyone that came up to us and had a drink and a chat…It was an absolute pleasure. Cheers, we will return!
17 Jan 2020
The final touches of mastering have now been completed thanks to Dav Byrne at Iridium Audio in Melbourne, and the album has been shipped to Rise Above. It is still due to be released early 2020 so with any luck you’ll all hear it sooner than later. We are really pleased with how it turned out and are eternally grateful to everyone involved who helped us achieve more than we could have hoped for. In March we are off to NZ for the Obey the Riff Fest in Wellington. Beastwars have once again invited us over and we couldn’t be happier to oblige. We also play Auckland and Christchurch with Potion which is going to be an absolute blast, so if you’re local to any of these cities we’d love to see you…Will hopefully have an exact release date for you next update, but until then, Obey the Riff!
13 Dec 2019
Back home after a huge couple of weeks in Melbourne. The inaugural Sun Burn Fest was killer and a good chance for us to road test some of the new songs leading into the recording of the new album. Some of Australia and NZ’s finest made for a hell of a night including the long-awaited return of Pod People…Can’t wait for next year. We spent 4 days at Toyland Studios tracking beds for the new album before moving to Goatsound Studios for a week to finish things off. Toyland was brilliant and engineer Adam Calaitzis helped us to capture a massive drum sound. Having Fooz producing us again helps make everything seem seamless, he really gets what we are trying to achieve and we couldn’t be happier with the results so far. Mixing is underway at Goatsound and the album will be released through Rise Above in 2020…Stay tuned for a release date soon.
24 Nov 2019
Our last show of 2019 is at the inaugural Sun Burn Fest in Melbourne on Saturday 30 November. We’ve been looking forward to this show ever since it was announced! An absolutely killer line up with some of our favourite bands and people, it’s going to be huge. We start recording the new album a couple of days after Sun Burn. It will be released in 2020 through Rise Above. We’ve been working hard on the new tunes and can’t wait to get them tracked. We’ll be playing a few of them at Sun Burn, so come and have a drink with us and give us your thoughts.
GIGS
UPCOMING
TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON
PREVIOUS
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27 February 2021
Witchskull, Butterfly, Burn The Hostages
Bendigo Hotel, Melbourne
19/20 February 2021
Witchskull, Dead Lazarus
White Eagle Polish Club, Canberra
10 October 2020
Witchskull, Sworn Sober, Lucifungus
Crowbar, Sydney
9 October 2020
Witchskull, Sworn Sober, Lucifungus
Crowbar, Sydney
3 October 2020
Witchskull, Charlotte and the Harlots
The Basement, Canberra
21 August 2020
Witchskull, Ploughshare
The Link Bar, Canberra Theatre Centre, Canberra
1 August 2020
Witchskull, Sworn Sober, Juggernaut
The Basement, Canberra
25 July 2020
Witchskull, Sworn Sober, Juggernaut
The Basement, Canberra
24 May 2020
An Intimate Dinner with Witchskull (The Covid Sessions)
6.30pm and 9.00pm
The Basement, Canberra
23 May 2020
An Intimate Dinner with Witchskull (The Covid Sesions)
6.30pm and 9.00pm
The Basement, Canberra
7 March 2020
Obey the Riff Festival
Wellington / Upper Hutt, NZ
6 March 2020
Witchskull, Potion, Snailrider
darkroom, Christchurch, NZ
5 March 2020
Witchskull, Potion, Bloodnut, Brackenwood Coven
Whammy Bar, Auckland, NZ
25 August 2019
Witchskull, Sworn Sober, The Babes, Steel Cap Therapy
Frankie's Pizza, Sydney
30 November 2019
Sun Burn
The Tote, Melbourne
3 August 2019
Witchskull, Sworn Sober, The Veil
Transit Bar, Canberra
12 July 2019
Beastwars, Witchskull, Dr Colossus, Droid
Gershwin Room, The Espy, Melbourne
11 July 2019
Beastwars, Witchskull, Potion
Crowbar, Sydney
29 June 2019
Beastwars, Witchskull, Slumbug
Galotos, Auckland, NZ
28 June 2019
Beastwars, Witchskull, End Boss
San Fran, Wellington, NZ
27 June 2019
Beastwars, Witchskull, End Boss
San Fran, Wellington, NZ
26 April 2019
Witchskull, Witch Fight, Smoke Witch, Kitchen Witch, Witchcliff
Bendigo Hotel, Melbourne
3 April 2019
1000Mods, Witchskull, Lucifungus
The Basement, Canberra
16 November 2018
IExist, Witchskull, Potion, Bloodmouth
Transit Bar, Canberra
7 October 2018
Church of Misery, Witchskull, Los Hombres Del Diablo, Holy Serpent, Subterranean Disposition, Neck Grip, Coffin Wolf
The Barwon Club, Geelong
6 October 2018
Church of Misery, Witchskull, Holy Serpent, Los Hombres Del Diablo, Merchant, DAWN, Thaw
Bendigo Hotel, Melbourne
5 October 2018
Church of Misery, Witchskull, Sumeru, DAWN, Lucifungus
The Bald Faced Stag, Sydney
4 October 2018
Church of Misery, Witchskull, Green Amphiban, Lucifungus
Transit Bar, Canberra
3 October 2018
Church of Misery, Witchskull, Smoke, Empress
Crowbar, Brisbane
27 July 2018
Hobo Magic, Witchskull, The Royal Artillery, Greig
Crowbar, Brisbane
20 July 2018
Witchskull, Holy Serpent, Dawn, Pilots of Baalbek
The Bald Faced Stag, Sydney
14 July 2018
Witchskull, Holy Serpent, Butterfly
Bendigo Hotel, Melbourne
6 July 2018
Witchskull, Pilots of Baalbek, Grand Duke
Transit Bar, Canberra
14 April 2018
Witchskull, Mental Cavity
The Pot Belly, Canberra
16 December 2017
Witchskull, Way of the Wolf
The Pot Belly, Canberra
8 December 2017
Blood Duster, Witchskull, Holy Serpent, The Ruiner, Way of the Wolf, Mental Cavity, Headless
The Tote, Melbourne
19 November 2017
Witchskull, Saxon Davis
The Basement, Canberra
17 November 2017
Daemon Pyre, Witchskull, Mental Cavity, Panic Burst, Terravorous
The Basement, Canberra
22 September 2017
Wretch, Witchskull, Taliesin, Johnny Roadkill, Cockbelch
The Basement, Canberra
27 May 2017
Live Evil, Witchskull, Wretch
ANU Bar, Canberra
22 April 2017
Peeping Tom, Witchskull, I Am Duckeye, A Basket of Mammoths, Peg Bucket
The Tote, Melbourne
27 January 2017
Holy Serpent, Witchskull
Transit Bar, Canberra
10 December 2016
Witchskull
Private Party
30 October 2016
Witchskull, King Dead, Last Hours, Hammer of Justice
St Vitus Bar, Brooklyn, New York
29 September 2016
Acid King, Witchskull, Monoceros
Transit Bar, Canberra
23 July 2016
I Exist, Witchskull, The Ruiner, Blunt Shovel, Derailment
The Tote, Melbourne
2 July 2016
Sumeru, Witchskull, Summonus, Not of the Earth
The Hideaway Bar, Sydney
28 May 2016
The Levitation Hex, Witchskull, King Fuzi
Duke of Kent, Wagga Wagga
30 April 2016
Witchskull, Los Hombres Del Diablo
The Phoenix, Canberra
22 April 2016
Witchskull, Hazmat, Temtris, Black Reign
Mariners, Batemans Bay
13 March 2016
Witchskull, Comacozer, Aver, Frozen Planet 69, Greenthief
Frankie's Pizza, Sydney
11 March 2016
Metal Fiesta 9
The Basement, Canberra
9 January 2016
Arrowhead, Witchskull, Summonus, Transcending Sea, Netherhell
The Bald Faced Stag, Sydney
14 November 2015
Smoke & Doom 2015
Lewisham Hotel, Sydney
17 October 2015
Gay Paris, Witchskull
The Phoenix, Canberra
3 October 2015
Witchskull, Local Horror, Tundrel
Transit Bar, Canberra
2 October 2015
Witchskull, The Runier, TTTDC, Olmeg
Bendigo Hotel, Melbourne
8 August 2015
Brewtality 2015
The Tote, Melbourne
7 August 2015
Witchskull, TTTDC, Loveless, Hard Rubbish
Bar Open, Melbourne
10 July 2015
TTTDC, Troldhaugen, Witchskull, Renegade Peacock, Hence the Testbed
The Basement, Canberra
30 May 2015
I Exist, Hellbringer, Witchskull, Boonhorse, Urge to Kill
Magpies City Club, Canberra
16 May 2015
The Corps, Trench Hell, Hellbringer, Witchskull
Private Party
11 April 2015
Child, Los Hombres Del Diablo, Witchskull, The Neptune Power Federation
Herman's Bar, Sydney
13 December 2014
Oz Zeppelin, Witchskull, Young Docteurs, The Crossbones
Croation Club, Canberra
3 October 2014
Windhand, Beastwars, Summonus, Witchskull
Herman's Bar, Sydney
20 September 2014
The Levitation Hex, Witchskull, Wretch
ANU Bar, Canberra
DISCOGRAPHY
A Driftwood Cross
Released through Rise Above Records
Decibel Magazine
May 2018
Australia’s Witchskull are a natural fit for Rise Above Records with their blend of classic heavy and stoner metal, as evidenced on second album Coven’s Will.
Loudwire
May 2018
Australia's Witchskull faithfully worship the sounds of heavy metal's glorious past and they've delivered yet again with their second album, Coven's Will…
Metal Hammer
August 2018
Rising from the blackened elemental ooze from which all heavy emerges, Australia’s Witchskull return with a ferocious sophomore effort that has injected a bracing shot of adrenaline into the withering arteries of psychedelic metal.
Coven's Will
Released through Rise Above Records
The Doom Charts
January 2016
Witchskull from Canberra, Australia have made an impact with their debut album The Vast Electric Dark, lodged at #1 release of 2015 on a fistful of well respected music blogs/zines year end lists.
New Noise Magazine
October 2016
Witchskull rules, and I could tell that within the first fifteen seconds of the album. It’s a hard effect to have, but when a band can capture someone that easy and that quick, there’s obviously some magic running through this Aussie trio.
Metal Hammer
October 2016
With lots of proto-metal groove and bluesy riffs their debut album is more a nod to the 70s than a hellish vision of the thrash/death scene.
The Vast Electric Dark
CD released through Ripple Music
Vinyl released through STB Records
Witchskull Promo CD
Self released
Kerrang
April 2020
…these lads know how to get heads banging, fists pumping and malevolent spirits stirring.
Metal Hammer
April 2020
It’s a rather delicious compromise between the fuzz of yester-year and the aggression of contemporary metal.
Maximum Volume Music
May 2020
Black Sabbath were formed about seven miles from where I typing this. …if there was any justice in rock n roll – their rightful heirs.
Doom Charts
This is an early Album of the Year candidate as Witchskull is carving their path with heavy rock that has a familiarness to it while crafting songs that stick in your brain that has you craving for more.
PHOTOS
20 February 2021
Polish White Eagle Club, Canberra
credit Roy Torkington
10 October 2020
Crowbar, Sydney
credit Jeremy Belinfante
1 August 2020
The Basement, Canberra
credit Roy Torkington
23 May 2020
The Covid Sessions, The Basement, Canberra
credit The Basement
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7 March 2020
Obey the Riff Festival, New Zealand
credit Garry Thomas
25 August 2019
Frankie's Pizza, Sydney
credit Jeremy Belinfante
11 July 2019
Crowbar, Sydney
credit Jeremy Belinfante
27 June 2019
San Fran, Wellington, New Zealand
credit Bruce Mackay
5 October 2018
The Bald Faced Stag, Sydney
credit Rod Hunt Photography
20 July 2018
The Bald Faced Stag, Sydney
credit Reuben Love's Photography
20 July 2018
The Bald Faced Stag, Sydney
credit Rod Hunt Photography
6 July 2018
Transit Bar, Canberra
credit Roy Torkington
17 November 2017
The Basement, Canberra
27 May 2017
ANU Bar, Canberra
23 July 2016
The Tote, Melbourne
credit Adam Russ, Right Eye Media
17 October 2015
The Phoenix, Canberra
credit Patrick Cox
3 October 2015
Transit Bar, Canberra
credit #Papperazbri
8 August 2015
The Tote, Melbourne
credit Matt Allan
8 August 2015
The Tote, Melbourne
credit Carbie Warbie
3 October 2014
Herman's Bar, Sydney
VIDEOS
THIS SILENT PLACE
Director / Editor : Jeremy Belinfante
Camera Operator : Joshua Belinfante
Visual Effects : Michael Blake
Colourist : Chris Downey
Production Assistant : Michele Madden
BREATHING BLUE LIGHT
Director Richard Grainger
Cinematographer Roger Price
Projectionist Garry Foster (Cody Anderson)
RAVEN
Director Richard Grainger
