The first album I ever bought from Burning Witches Records was Maine’s V. To be completely honest I didn’t even pay attention to the label because that album sucked me in so wholly. It bewitched me, pun intended. I just knew I was paying international shipping fees and I was totally good with that. The record was one of my favorite albums of 2017, and little did I know I’d be going down a witchy rabbit hole from there.
I then listened to Burning Tapes’ Blood Runs Dry and fell for the hypnotic rhythms and Carpenter-esque brooding. By 2018 I was a full-on BWR groupie, falling hard for albums by All of Them Witches, Xander Harris, Espectrostatic, Deadly Avenger, Isvisible Isinvisible, Brass Hearse, Graham Reznick, and Phantoms Vs Fire to name a few.
2019 saw albums by Cory Kilduff, Oh Baby, Mr Eff, Galactic Protector, as well as the Witches foray into film scores. Scores from Daniel Davies(Soeurs De Glisse), System Syn(Dry Blood), as well as films like Tales Of Halloween, Candy Corn, and Satanic Panic just to name a few.
Hunter Complex, Harglow, Rory Mohon, Dorothys Fortress, Dallas Campbell, Ian Alex Mac, and many others have donned the BWR Hall of Fame wall. It’s an impressive roster of artists this label has helped to share with the world. And when it came to the season of the witch(October, yo), BWR dropped some amazing compilations; Witches Halloween Brew, the Pieces cassette releases, and the RSD drop Communion. These were the best of the best when it came to the label’s roster.
For a label that started out as two guys bonding over horror scores and electronic music at a John Carpenter concert, it’s certainly come a long way. Beginning the journey with imagined film soundtracks and horror score-heavy vibes, the team of Darren Page and Gary Dimes turned a niche label into a spot for forward-thinking electronic music of all ilks. As well as sharing independent horror film scores that are not to be overlooked.
Five years on Darren Page has kept the fires burning by continuing to release scores, original music, and keeping the eerie vibes alive and well. In honor of the five year anniversary of Burning Witches Records, the label is reissuing five of their releases on audiophile-quality vinyl. Cory Kilduff’s When It All Gets To Be Too Much/All Live & Well, Dream Division’s Beyond The Mirror’s Image, Deadly Avenger’s Your God Is Too Small, Alone In The Woods’ Alone In The Woods, and D.A.L.I’s When Haro Met Sally are all being re-released sounding better than ever, with some being out of print since they were first released.
Now’s your chance to grab some amazing records, or to just get caught up on a staggeringly prolific discography if you’re lagging behind. A lot of the physical formats are long sold out, but digital lives forever. I feel fortunate to have been able to interact with the BWR crew over the last five years, and to have had the honor of interviewing many of the artists that have worked with the label as well.
Now gather round and help us blow out these 666 candles on the Witches’ birthday cake. It’s a big cake. Plenty for us all.
Head over to BWR and check out those five new releases, as well as all the latest BWR news.
Complex Distractions 
Right on!
LikeLiked by 1 person