Burning Witch was a doom metal band from Seattle, WA, formed in 1995 by Stephen O’Malley (guitar), Greg Anderson (guitar), Edgy 59 (vocals), Jamie Sykes (drums) and G. Stuart Dahlquist (bass). O’Malley, Sykes, and Anderson had all previously been members of Thorr’s Hammer. Anderson departed early on when he moved to Los Angeles and formed Goatsnake. The band recorded their first 12″ EP, “Towers…” in 1996, although it would not see formal release until 1998. Afterwards, Sykes was replaced by B.R.A.D., who appeared on the the “Rift.Canyon.Dreams” 12 EP”, also released in 1998. The band split afterwards when Edgy 59 quit to join another group. Greg Anderson’s Southern Lord Records would release the 2 EPs on CD in 1998 as the “Crippled Lucifer” compilation (an expanded version of “Crippled Lucifer” was issued in 2008 and contain extra tracks).
Following Burning Witch’s split, Anderson and O’Malley formed Sunn O))), Teeth Of Lions Rule The Divine, and Pentemple and also appear separately in a number of different acts. Dahlquist appeared on recordings by Sunn O))) and Goatsnake and also formed Asva with B.R.A.D.
The 1st Burning Witch album. Circa 1996. Recorded by Steve Albini during the vernal equinox 1996 at Robert Lang Studios, Seattle. Originally released as a demo tape in 1996 then released by Slap-A-Ham on vinyl in 1998. Southern Lord released a cd version (including Rift.Canyon.Dreams) in 1998 & 12” LP version in the Box Set circa 2011. Remastered from the original 1/2″ master tape (lost until this version) by Mell Dettmer.
Label: Southern Lord
Barcode: 808720100211
