Vancouver-based metal band, Spell, today releases its new LP, ‘Wretched Heart‘, via Bad Omen Records. A shadow-drenched journey through desperation and defiance, ‘Wretched Heart‘ sees Spell transform heavy metal into something urgent and human – gothic, cinematic, and hypnotic. Spell’s strongest record to date, ‘Wretched Heart‘ is the follow-up to the band’s 2022 LP, ‘Tragic Magic‘, an album hailed as a celebration of “the mystique and darkness within hard rock and heavy metal“.
Purchase/stream ‘Wretched Heart‘ at this location.
In celebration, Spell has unveiled a beguiling video for its new song, “Exquisite Corpse“, which deftly blends infectious, arena rock melodies with theatrical, occult rock sensibilities. Equal parts shred and dread, “Exquisite Corpse” is a glorious example of the finely-honed meld of strident metal grit and devilishly catchy pop suss that Spell has made its own. Stream the video for “Exquisite Corpse“, created by Jamie Ward, at this location.
“It’s so easy to idealize the past and remember things in a way that was never really true,” says vocalist and bassist Cam Mesmer of the “Exquisite Corpse” lyrics. “Especially when we lose people, we can tend to think about them in a perfect way, and mourn the loss of an idealised imaginary person that never really existed in the first place“.
‘Wretched Heart‘ has met to radiant acclaim in the weeks leading to its release, the LP being hailed as “surely the most fun metal record of the year“, “Gothic, hypnotic, and thunderous“, “absolutely fantastic“, “a glorious heavy metal offering“, and “a strain of metal that falls somewhere between the early bat-eating years of the immortal Ozzy Osbourne and Opeth after it got tired of making hearse-black music for torching churches“.
‘Wretched Heart‘, in all its gory glory, embodies a very vital paradox – a record made by true believers who yearn for catharsis beyond. The oxymoron of anthems forged from steel, yet with a very human heart. Even the most cynical bystander will likely struggle not to be bewitched.
“Heavy metal can often be a regressive genre, almost by definition. But it doesn’t have to be!” emphasises Mesmer. “I think that getting set in your ways is death. I consider SPELL to be a heavy metal band, and therefore whatever music we make, will therefore be heavy metal, rather than the other way around, where you try to make your band fit into whatever narrow niche you think heavy metal is supposed to sound like“.
Spell‘s single, “Take My Life“, offers one of the most revealing entry points into the group’s latest chapter. The track stands as perhaps the starkest embodiment of the new album’s central tension – where classic heavy metal confidence collides with profound existential weight. As vocalist and bassist Cam Mesmer explains, “‘Take My Life’ is about an intimate encounter with death, and the power dynamics at play. Where I’ve had to make a decisive move, and been fearful, but others have given me confidence.”
“Take My Life” is a track that captures Spell at its most direct and dynamic. Stream a music video for “Take My Life“, directed by James Barry and Sean Edwards for Ramble Films, at this location.
The first track released from ‘Wretched Heart‘ was “Lilac“, an addictive and bittersweet track that channels both stadium-sized passion and wistful longing. Featuring a guest guitar solo by former Spirit Adrift, Carcass, and Angel Witch man, Tom Draper, “Lilac” dances with harmony-laden metal and synth-driven gothic chills. In the song, the titular flower forms an overarching metaphor for the ephemeral and transient forms of both nature and love. Stream a music video for “Lilac“, again directed by James Barry and Sean Edwards for Ramble Films, at this location.
“There are many things in life that disappear so quickly and will be gone immediately if we get preoccupied and forget to enjoy them and care for them” clarifies Spell vocalist/bassist Cam Mesmer before noting, “This song isn’t really about a flower“.
Spell is Cam Mesmer (vocals, bass, rhythm guitar, synthesizers), Al Lester, (vocals, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, drums), Jeff Black (lead guitar, backing vocals), and Gabriel Tenebrae, (lead guitar, synthesizers).
