It’s been a long time… way too long, in fact… since we last heard from Witch Of The Vale… It was back in 2021 that Cleopatra Records released their debut album Commemorate and, while the self-released digital singles “Love of a Father” and “Power of Love,” and the masterful 100 Ways To Leave Volume 1 EP certainly fed the fans’ hunger, Lovesongs For The Damned is sure to fill an aching void regardless.
Ethereal and haunting, Witch Of The Vale hail from the serene shores of Scotland’s myth-ridden Loch Lomond, and the remote – but so beautiful – Outer Hebrideas, and made their public debut in 2018, with the single “The Way This Will End.” They followed up with “Trust The Pain” and “Changeling” – evocative and emotional electronic soundscapes woven around Erin’s delicate but never less than captivating vocal. That’s when Cleopatra discovered them.
And while it is easy to see how the duo have built such a loyal following among the Goth community, their sound expands way beyond any expected parameters – and into wider pastures too, with their music soundtracking such modern horror classics as Cocaine Werewolf, Baphomet and Scavenger.
Initially intended as a companion volume to 100 Ways To Leave Volume 1, but swiftly outgrowing the EP format, Lovesongs for the Damned is sensual and seductive, the kind of album that makes you yearn for darkness to fall – or which could cause it to do so, whatever time of day it is.
Opening with an alternate version of ”Love of a Father,” with Erin’s spectral vocal colliding with brutal, brittle percussion; and delivering, too, an unheard revision of 100 Ways’ “Porcelain and Ivory,” Lovesongs for the Damned features remixes, too, of two of the collection’s most dramatic songs, “What’s Left of Me” and the title track.
And then there’s “The Curse,” which sounds exactly like the title says it ought to, and a contrarily fragile take on Johnny Cash/Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” – most recently heard as the very last recording ever made by the Witch’s Cleopatra label mate, the so sadly missed Melanie. Which is probably the right place to mention a future Witch of the Vale project, bringing their magic to another Melanie recording, “All The Pretty Little Horses.” Watch this space for further details.
For now, however, we have Lovesongs for the Damned, a gorgeous collection that steps out of your dreams to foster a whole new, fresh reality.
DIGITAL: https://orcd.co/witchofthevale_lovesongsforthedamned
Track listing
- Love of a Father (alternate version)
- What’s Left Of Me
- Porcelain and Ivory (alternate version)
- Lovesong For The Damned
- The Curse
- Hurt
- What’s Left Of Me (Promenade Cinema Remix)
- Lovesong For The Damned (Minimalist Version)
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 