Acid Witch

Acid Witch
Shagrat and Slasher Dave of Acid Witch.
Background information
Origin	Detroit, Michigan, USA
Genres	Doom Metal, Death/Doom, Psychedelic Rock
Years active	2007 - present
Labels	Hell's Headbangers
Associated acts	Temple of Void, Shitfucker, Reaper, Horrific, Harbinger, Nuke, Hooded Menace
Website	Facebook
Current members	Shagrat Slasher Dave Phil Warren Mike Tuff

Acid Witch are a death/doom band from Detroit, Michigan. Formed in 2007 by Shagrat and Slasher Dave, this band is known for it's mix of doom metal riffs, death metal vocals and incorporating a lot of inspiration from Halloween and 80s horror films. The band tend to call their sound "Halloween Metal" with a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor approach to writing music.

History

Acid Witch began in 2007 by Slasher Dave and Shagrat in 2007, initially worked up as an instrumental project by Slasher Dave but eventually evolved into a doom metal band over time being influenced by Pagan Altar and Witchfinder General.

“	“I’m not quite sure when I had the idea, Ive always loved Halloween and the fall season ever since I was a kid. I guess I just wanted to do a trippy band that captures the essence of the season, and also shows my love for the 1970s Halloween sounds lps and 80s scary sounds cassettes. Acid Witch was just an instrumental project of mine, I sampled a bunch of laughing witches from an old 80s cassette tape I love, and wrote some trippy doom/70s rock rock to it. I guess that’s how it got started, so the idea for it didn’t really happen until after a song or two was written… It took about 3-4 months I think. We were on a pretty tight dead-line to get it out by Halloween.”	”
	— Slasher Dave, Metal Assault

After submitting a demo to death metal/goregrind label Razorback Records they took interest in releasing the band's debut album, Witchtanic Hellucinations, on October 24, 2008. Two EP releases would follow in Witch House' and Midnight Mass in 2009 and 2010, respectively as original singer Lasse Pyykkö would depart from the band.

Though for a time the band appeared to be studio-only with Witchtanic Hellucinations being a one-off the addition of Gnarls Charles and Mike Tuff in 2010 would lead to the band performing live, mainly in Michigan with the occasional out-of-town show such as appearances at Maryland Deathfest. The first Acid Witch show was on January 29, 2010 with The Gates of Slumber and Pentagram. Acid Witch's second album Stoned would be released in November 2010 via Hell's Headbangers Records.

Acid Witch Live - Midnight Mass

Acid Witch-Party Time (45 Grave cover)

ACID WITCH live at The Acheron, Sep. 12th, 2015 (FULL SET)

In 2014, Acid Witch toured with Child Bite in the USA leading up to an appearance at Housecore Horror Fest.

In 2015, Acid Witch toured Europe with Bonehunter. This included an appearance at Roadburn Festival. On April 10, 2015 the band would release an EP entitled Midnight Movies. This EP features covers of songs from 80s horror films, such as Fastway's "After Midnight" from the movie "Trick or Treat" and 45 Grave's "Partytime" from "Return of the Living Dead". Later in 2015 the band also contributed a cover of Celtic Frost's "Cherry Orchards" to the Morbid Tales! A Tribute to Celtic Frost compilation.

One June 16, 2016, Acid Witch announced their third album entitled Evil Sound Screamers is expected to be released on Halloween 2016. Sometime after it was announced that Acid Witch would be the headlining act of the Psycho Road Tour, a touring festival organized by the people behind Psycho Festival. On 20 October 2017 the band announced they would be releasing their third album Evil Sound Screamers digitally via Hell's Headbangers Records on 31 October 2017, with physical releases to follow. Following a string of shows the band announced a mini-tour that August with Snafu, Child Bite and Against The Grain.

On 24 December 2018, Acid Witch surprise released a two-song EP on their bandcamp entitled Black Christmas Evil. Following several singles and splits, along with occasional touring, Acid Witch would release their fourth studio album Rot Among Us on 1 October 2022, with a CD and Cassette release on 31 October and a vinyl edition set for 2023.

Discography

Albums

• Witchtanic Hellucinations (2008, Razorback Recordings)
• Stoned (2010, Hell's Headbangers)
• Evil Sound Screamers (2017, Hell's Headbangers)
• Rot Among Us (2022, Hell's Headbangers)

EPs and Singles

• Witch House (2009, Doomentia Records)
• Midnight Mass (2010, Hell's Headbangers)
• Midnight Movies (2015, Hell's Headbangers)
• Black Christmas Evil (2018, Self-Released)
• It's Halloween Night (The Witches' Jack​-​O​-​Lantern) (2019, Self-Released)
• Turntable Terror (2020, Self-Released)
• You're Melting! (2022, Self-Released)

Splits

• Spooky (With Nunslaughter) (2014, Hell's Headbangers)
• Hell's Headbash (With Midnight, Shitfucker and Nunslaughter) (2015, Hell's Headbangers)
• Spooky Vol. II (With Vaultwraith) (2021, Hell's Headbangers)

Compilations

• Stale Candy: The EPs of AW (2016, Self-released)

Members

Current Lineup

NOTE: The members presented here only reflect the live lineup and not the exact performers on most of the studio recordings.

• Shagrat - Bass, Vocals (2007 - Present)
• Slasher Dave - Keyboards, Vocals (2007 - Present)
• Mike Tuff - Guitar (2010 - Present)
• Phil Warren - Drums (2017 - Present)

Past Members

• Lasse Pyykkö - Vocals (2007 - 2009)
• Gnarls Charles - Drums (2010 - 2017)

Tours

• From Horror To Housecore Tour 2014 (With Child Bite) (2014)
• Acid Witch European Tour 2015 (With Bonehunter) (2015)
• Psycho Road Show (With Black Mountain, White Hills, Highlands) (2016)
• The Brood From The Bowels of Detroit Mini-Tour (With Child Bite, Snafu, Against The Grain) (2018)
• A June to Exhume (With Against The Grain) (2019)
• Spring Summoning 2020 (Canceled) (2020)

External Links

• The Obelisk Article on Acid Witch
• Vice Interview with Acid Witch
• Live review of a 2015 show.
• Interview with Lords of Metal
• Interview via Drunk in a Graveyard
• Interview via Wormwood Chronicles
• Interview via Blistering