BURNING WITCHES: 'Hexenhammer' Video

The official video for “Hexenhammer”, the new single from the Swiss all-girl heavy metal outfit BURNING WITCHES, can be seen below. The song is the title track of the band’s second album, which will be released 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.

BURNING WITCHES commented: “The filming of the ‘Hexenhammer’ video was an exciting new experience for the band.

“Our second video dives into the story of Malleus Maleficarum, written by the discredited Catholic clergyman Heinrich Kramer to [legitimize] his cruel deeds against woman in the 15th century.

The title track stands for the album — it is melodic and heavy and reflects the sound of the band in a perfect way!

“We hope you will enjoy the video, which opens up a new authentic chapter for the band!

“We wanna thank the Witchcraft museum in Gränichen/Switzerland and its founder and director Miss Wicca Meier-Spring and her team for the support on this large project. Also we wanna thank the Operahouse of Zurich for the costumes and the props. Ancient recordings and editing by Michael Buzek. Cheers to the whole team for making this amazing venture possible!”

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.

Gyula says: “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)

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.

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)