After the breakup of the cult doom/death band Thorr’s Hammer in 1995, Stephen O’Malley (Sunn O))), Khanate), Greg Anderson (Sunn O))), Goatsnake, The Lord) and Jamie Sykes formed Burning Witch. The band then added G. Stuart Dahlquist (ASVA) and vocalist Edgy 59 to round out the lineup.
Anderson left the band and moved to Los Angeles to form the band Goatsnake in 1996 then Burning Witch recorded songs with Steve Albini which would become the Towers EP (following these sessions, Sykes left the band and was replaced by B.R.A.D.).
Originally released as a demo tape then released by Slap-A-Ham on vinyl in 1998 (and eventually on a CD comp in 1998, Crippled Lucifer, which included Rift Canyon Dreams, and on 12″ LP in the box set in 2011), Towers had long since been out of print.
Tonal Intoxication: In Conversation with The Lord’s Greg Anderson and Petra Haden
The sessions that followed the Towers Albini recordings resulted in the Rift Canyon Dreams EP, which would prove to be the final recordings by Burning Witch, as they broke up soon after the disc was completed.
Initially released by Merciless Records on LP in 1998, Southern Lord released the CD version (Crippled Lucifer comp.) in 1998 and a 12” LP version in the box set circa 2011, also leaving listeners and collectors longing for physical variants ever since.
Finally, Southern Lord brings these two milestone releases to vinyl formats once again. Towers has been remastered from the 1/2″ master tape (lost until this version) by Mell Dettmer and will be available on black, opaque red and opaque gold vinyl. Rift Canyon Dreams will be available on black, cloudy clear and opaque evergreen vinyl.
Towers track listing:
- Sacred Predictions
- Country Doctor
- Tower Place
- Sea Hag
Rift Canyon Dreams track listing:
- Warning Signs
- Stillborn
- History of Hell (Crippled Lucifier)
- Communion
Towers and Rift Canyon Dreams are available now from the Southern Lord Europe store here, and here and via Bandcamp.
