Ever since the release of their 2016 self titled full length, I have not been able to get enough Bewitcher in my life. Their first two records are some of my favorites in recent years. Their latest, Cursed Be Thy Kingdom, is bound to crack my year end list. It only made sense to sit down with the band’s founding guitarist, singer, and songwriter, Matteo Von Bewitcher. In this brand new interview, MVB discusses the band’s creative process, influences, and their inevitable rise to the top of the metal pantheon. One thing is for certain: “In the night, the cult will rise!”
Greetings Matteo and welcome to Defenders of the Faith! How are you doing this afternoon?
Matteo Von Bewitcher: I am rolling sir. How are you?
I’m doing great! I’m relieved it’s you because two minutes ago my phone was ringing and it turned out to be a telemarketer.
MVB: *laughs* Of course!
Anyways, I’d like to start by congratulating you on the ripping new album, Cursed Be Thy Kingdom.
MVB: Thank you so much man. I appreciate that.
I saw on social media that as of about an hour ago, the album has charted in Germany.
MVB: How do you like that? We didn’t see that one coming *laughs*.
Are there any other chart projections in the coming days?
MVB: We haven’t gotten any numbers on any other countries yet, so we don’t know. I don’t know. It may or may not happen, but it’s just cool that it happened even in one country. We’re stoked about that.
Of course. Let’s start with the album’s title, Cursed Be Thy Kingdom. What made you think of this name and were there any other names in consideration?
MVB: I think there was a little bit of a debate. We knew we were probably gonna name the record after one of the songs. “Death Returns…” was in big contention for a while. At the end of the day, when it came down to the artwork and the overall…there’s no overlying concept in the album, but there’s running themes. Cursed Be Thy Kingdom ended up being the title that best summed up the whole vibe of the album, including the artwork.
It definitely matches the ominous vibe of the artwork, which from what I read was inspired by the crossroads legend.
MVB: Yeah, there’s that. There’s also the witch on the post being burned at the stake, the blood moon with the eclipse, the no man’s land landscape. There’s so much stuff going on from different songs that got incorporated into the overall piece.
How soon after the release of Under the Witching Cross did these new songs start coming together?
MVB: About 6 months before we recorded that album *laughs*.
Under the Witching Cross or this new one?
MVB: Yeah, the music was about halfway done for the record by the time we went into the studio to record Witching Cross. It’s been a long process, but there was just so much touring going on at the time. It was a slow burn. It was like a song one month and then maybe a couple months go by, not much goes on. I’m always writing riffs, but I don’t really write on the road. It was spotty up until then. By the beginning or middle of 2019, everything was pretty much conceived fully.
Did the ongoing pandemic have to do with any setbacks involving this album’s release?
MVB: The more I think about it, the more we get those questions, I think more and more that the pandemic was probably the best thing that could’ve happened for this album. It gave us some extra time to focus on it because we had so much touring going on, or that was set up and never happened *laughs*. All that stuff fell apart, so we had nothing to do but work on the record and focus on the songs as a band. Once we were able to start rehearsing again, which was kind of an issue at first, we had this time that we would not have had otherwise. It ended up being okay for us.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but whereas there were moments of second wave black metal throughout the last album, Cursed Be Thy Kingdom seems to take it back to the first wave fury of the debut. Was this intentional?
MVB: I’m glad that somebody thinks it sounds more like the first album than not. That’s cool *laughs*. I think the idea was to focus on the other elements of the sound that haven’t been completely emphasized i.e. the rock and traditional metal elements. Then you have some of the first wave black metal stuff going on, but that was a little bit in the background this time because we wanted to make a rockin’ album. At the end of the day, when this whole pandemic thing is over, people are gonna be ready and raring to go. They’re just gonna wanna hear some fucking rock n’ roll. The timing of this album couldn’t be better.
The album closes with a blackened take on Pentagram’s “Sign of the Wolf”. In the past, you’ve also covered W.A.S.P.’s “Show No Mercy” and Judas Priest’s “Green Manalishi”. What other classic metal songs would you like to one day give the Bewitcher treatment?
MVB: Oh that’s a surprise sir. I can’t divulge those kinds of things right now *laughs*. But in the past we’ve done a lot of Motörhead and like you said, Priest. We’ve done some different things. I think it’d be something that you can’t put your finger on. It’d be something that’s familiar, but maybe deep, like a deep cut of a well known band. I don’t know exactly what that’s gonna be yet, but it’ll be cool.
It sounds like it’s currently in the works.
MVB: Yeah, we got some ideas.
This is your first album released in conspiracy with Century Media Records. Has there been any differences between working with a major label such as they as opposed to past smaller labels?
MVB: Oh yeah. It’s a bigger entity, so you’re dealing with the extended corporate bureaucracy. At the end of the day, they’re a record label, so they operate like any other record label. The only real difference is the chain of command is a little bit longer. There’s more people. We got a team around us now *laughs*. This person is in charge of marketing. This person is in charge of PR. This person is in charge of the product management and packaging. There’s just more people to talk to on a daily basis. That’s the main difference.
Two bands integral to the Bewitcher sound are Motörhead and Venom. If you could only listen to one for the rest of your life, which band would you choose and why?
MVB: The answer is Motörhead obviously. I almost got this question wrong last time. Somebody said, “Pick one: Quorthon, Cronos, Lemmy, and Tom Warrior.” I picked Quorthon after the fact, but the answer was Lemmy of course. Motörhead just has a longer catalog of great albums. It’s just endless classics. They’re the perfect combination of heavy metal and rock n’ roll.
That’s always been my argument. Who doesn’t love those first three Venom albums and the early singles? After that, it gets dicey at best. Meanwhile, Motörhead had 40 years of consistent asskicking rock n’ roll.
MVB: Yeah, they’re just so consistent. Yes, there are Motörhead records that are not as good as others, but there’s no bad ones as far as I’m concerned.
Agreed. Do you have a favorite Motörhead record?
MVB: It’s such a cliche answer, but Ace of Spades is the pinnacle. They’re one of the few bands that the most popular album is also the best. But, there’s also Iron Fist, Overkill, Orgasmatron, Bastards, 1916. I love a lot of their records.
Orgasmatron has always been my favorite, but as you said, you can’t go wrong.
MVB: Even the deep cuts on Ace of Spades are just so iconic.
What are some of the most memorable shows you’ve played thus far?
MVB: The first thing that comes to mind is when we went to Europe a couple years ago. That was pretty insane. The UK shows in particular *laughs*. We played London and we played Manchester. We also did Newcastle, but the first two I mentioned, the crowds were so crazy over our set. By the end of the set, they were chanting out name. It was wild. It was like nothing we had ever experienced. I just remember the London show being so hot. It was like 150 degrees in that fucking room *laughs*. Our guitars were sweating. There was a lot of energy going on at those UK and Europe shows. Going to Canada, there’s always great shows there too. And the US, for that matter.
I believe the last run of shows you guys did here before everything went down was with Striker and Holy Grail.
MVB: Yes, we did a little run with those boys a couple years ago now.
It’s funny because it doesn’t feel like it’s been that long, but yeah, that was two years ago this summer.
MVB: Crazy *laughs*.
With shows starting to slowly return, are there any plans for touring and packages here in the States later this year?
MVB: Lots of talk, not a lot of action right now. We’re trying to figure it out. Hopefully with the loosening of restrictions, possibly by the end of the year? We’ll see if there’s something we can do, but there’s nothing set in stone so to speak.
Bewitcher’s rise to the forefront of the metal underground has been nothing short of meteoric. Did the band have this drive to reach the top from the very beginning?
MVB: *laughs* Woah! “Meteoric”…that’s not something I’ve heard to describe us lately. I don’t know. We just kept it going. We had these goals. We achieved them. What next? Well, let’s do this. And it progressively just kept going. You don’t really think about, “We’re gonna make it to the top!” That’s never been a mission statement by the band or anything. It’s just let’s see how far we can go. There was never a “make it big” mentality with Bewitcher. In fact, I never envisioned it getting this far.
The reason I asked that, you may have heard this story, is because when Celtic Frost formed, apparently before they recorded anything, Tom Warrior said, “Alright, here’s the album titles and here’s their cover art.” I think this was the case for Morbid Tales, Emperor’s Return, and To Mega Therion. He had everything planned out. Of course Celtic Frost would go on to become legends, but seeing the cohesion and evolution in your catalog, I couldn’t help but wonder if this was the same approach.
MVB: You know what? Let’s start spreading that rumor that that’s what happened with us. That’s a great mythology *laughs*.
You heard it here first!
MVB: I wish it had been that convenient. I think maybe in the demo era there was a lot more planning ahead, but once you get into first and second record territory, we were really flying by the seat of our ass at that point and going with the flow. It’s been quite a hell of a journey, but there’s more to go.
It seems every couple years Bewitcher releases a new album. At this rate, can we expect album #4 in 2023?
MVB: Anything is possible. I don’t think I’m this far along in writing this time around for the next record, as compared to where we were when Witching Cross came out. It might be a little longer, but inspiration may strike. You never know.
I’m sure it’ll be worth the wait.
MVB: We’ve still got a long way to go on touring behind this one as far as I’m concerned.
Cursed Be Thy Kingdom is out now on Century Media Records. For more information on Bewitcher, visit www.bewitcher.us.