My band Lesbian Bed Death is about to release its seventh studio album, 'The Witching Hour'. It's certainly a cliché when you hear a musician tell the world that his band's upcoming album is their best one yet! However, please believe me when I say that this really is our best album so far. It encompasses everything the band is, as well as exploring new avenues and pushing the envelope, so to speak.
As you have probably gathered, I'm extremely proud to be a part of The Witching Hour, so please indulge me as I share some thoughts about it.
If you remember, our friend Steve Lethal (a nickname he acquired many years ago due to his obsession with the Racer X album, Street Lethal) played some lead guitar on our previous album Born To Die On VHS. What we also found out after releasing that record was that Steve had gotten heavily into engineering, mixing and mastering.. He fully remixed and remastered the whole of Born To Die On VHS during the pandemic, making it sound more like how I originally wanted it to be. This is now the version on Spotify and Bandcamp, with the original mix only being available on the first pressing of the CD. It was very clear to me that we had to make our next studio album with Steve as the producer and lead guitarist.
Anyway, towards the end of 2019, we started writing together towards what would become this new album. Obviously, making a record during a global pandemic complicated matters. With the rules in the UK changing, what felt like on a regular basis, we weren't always able to get together when we wanted to, and had to sometimes share ideas online. However, a benefit of the pandemic was that we were able to focus on the music without the distraction of upcoming gigs. We used the extra time wisely and have made an album that I couldn't be more pleased with.
The Witching Hour's artwork was done by Scott Jackson of Monsterman Graphics. He did the last album, and I was keen to get him back to do this new one. You can see why. How cool is that cover? I gave him this ridiculous, over the top brief and he totally nailed it. I wanted the vibe of Ozzy Osbourne's Ultimate Sin album cover (without the crap Ozzy dragon), and got that. Each of the witches represents the musical influences that make up the band's sound. One is a bit more punk, one more Goth, and the middle one is Hard Rock/Heavy Metal. Scott really brought the idea to life and his artwork has captured the spirit of the band perfectly.
So, let's talk about the songs.
01. THE SCORPION
This was the first track we wrote, and is a real hard rocker with a gothic tinge. Imagine if Kiss and Paradise Lost (two of my favourite bands) wrote a song together. That sounds like a ludicrous combination, but it's a fairly accurate description. Regardless, I love this song. Lyrically, I was initially inspired by the TV show Penny Dreadful, but ended up making up a brand new occult character. It fits with the over-all 'witchy' vibe of the album, and is a great high-energy opener.
02. BREAKFAST AT TISIPHONE'S
This song started off as a bass line. I sent it to Steve and he recorded a version on guitar with power chords, and it sounded a bit like a Hardcore song. 'Breakfast' is fast and heavy, but has a melodic chorus juxtaposed with the brutality, kinda like what The Misfits and The Wildhearts (two more of my favourite bands) often do. The title is a play on 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'. Tisiphone was one of the Furies in Greek mythology, a deity of the underworld, and was all about vengeance and destruction. This is possibly the angriest song we've ever recorded, and a soundtrack to revenge.
03. SABRINA
Everyone who knows me is aware that I'm a huge fan of Horror. I also love trashy teen dramas. Naturally, I absolutely I adored The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina when it came out on Netflix. It wouldn't be a proper Lesbian Bed Death album without some songs about Horror movies or related characters, so having a song about Sabrina the Teenage Witch seemed like a plan! Musically, this is one of our heaviest songs ever, and is full-on 'crushing'.
04. THE WITCHING HOUR
This is us re-visiting our Gothic Rock roots. I wanted a song that was contemporary, but felt like classic Goth at the same time, as well as being a potential dancefloor filler at Rock clubs. I feel a little cocky saying it, but we achieved those things.
05. BRING OUT YOUR DEAD
This song started with a guitar riff Aimee wrote at a rehearsal while she was waiting for me to pick up Luci4 from the train station. I filmed it on my phone and we forgot all about it. Steve and I built a song around this riff, which we used for the chorus, and it came together fairly quickly. It's a catchy Horror Punk song. Lyrically, I wanted another Halloween anthem, and the term 'Bring Out Your Dead' could also be interpreted as 'come out in your fancy dress costumes'. That was the idea anyway. Bring Out Your Dead is great fun and I'm sure that it will become a live favourite.
06. TOXIC
No, this isn't a Britney Spears cover. Lyrically, I wanted our answer to Alice Cooper's Poison. This is sung from the antagonist's point of view. "I'm poison. I'm going to ruin your fucking life!" These riffs Steve wrote are super heavy with some colossal grooves. Hearing this song take shape was really rewarding.
07. MIRROR DEMON
My first ever band was called Mirror Demon. We were fucking shit. It would be a stretch to have even considered us a real band, as we didn't have any complete songs and made a right noise. They were certainly good times though. I got the name from one of the monsters in Steve Jackson & Ian Livingstone's Out Of The Pit, Fighting Fantasy book. For fun, I wanted a song called Mirror Demon on this new album as a tribute. The music started out with a bass riff from Aimee, and we built it from there. The song is about looking at our inner demons and accepting that they can be our best friends as well as our worst enemies.
08. MOLLY LEIGH
The city I live in, Stoke-on-Trent, has it's own ghost story. It's about a woman called Molly Leigh who was accused of witchcraft. You can still visit her grave. As the band is based in Stoke, I thought it would be cool to have a song based on something local. It's a fast, catchy tune and brings the Punk back into the album. Steve's solo at the end sounds like it belongs on a Megadeth record. I love it, and it works so well.
09. VAMPIRES
If Duran Duran wrote Gothic power ballads, maybe they'd sound like this? I love this song. Luci4's voice truly shines, making this a powerful, emotive piece, with an injection of dark humour.
10. CHUCKY
We've been threatening to write a song about Chucky from the Child's Play films for years. I always imagined it to be an 80's Heavy metal style song, but we never settled on anything. When Steve played me a heavy Doom Metal riff he wrote, the penny dropped and I knew that this had to be our Chucky song. It's crushing, dark, menacing, and everything a song about everyone's favourite killer doll should be.
11. SUGAR-COATED TERROR
This is a melodic sleazy number with plenty of hooks. However, Sugar-coated Terror was a real bitch to write. We re-wrote it so many times that it's barely recognisable from the first demo we made. Our efforts paid off though, as this is a banger. There's also a cheeky nod to The Divinyls in the interlude.
12. TEARS OF THE GODS
If it's pure 80's Gothic Synth-pop you're after, look no further! Had this song been released in 1986, it would have topped the charts worldwide. Well, it would have in my overactive imagination anyway!
13. THIRTEEN STEPS TO THE GALLOWS
This song started out as a few riffs Steve had. Unsure if they'd suit LBD, he played them to me anyway. I loved what I heard, and they gave me 'Hammer Horror' vibes. Initially, I was torn between writing lyrics about Carmilla from the Hammer film The Vampire Lovers, or the version of Countess Bathory from the movie Countess Dracula. What can I say? I'm an Ingrid Pitt fan! In the end, I invented a brand new character that was inspired by both and wrote about her instead, like I did with The Scorpion. Musically, this song is a dark, heavy, epic beast, like a Gothic Alice In Chains. It's certainly a great track to finish the record.
In addition, there will be some bonus tracks. I'll leave those for another day. Anyway, back to the core songs on the album, I can't state enough that I'm extremely proud of what we've made. I just hope that it reaches as many pairs of ears as possible. If you have just one ear, I hope you love it too!
If you're still reading, thank you for taking an interest. Please give the record a spin, follow the band on our social media, and most importantly, tell your friends about us. I truly hope that you all enjoy The Witching Hour for many years to come.
Thank you once again, and I hope to see you on tour someday.
**You can pre-order and support our crowd-funding campaign up to the 30th April 2021. CLICK HERE!
