Since their formation, WITCH RIPPER have undergone a remarkable evolution. While their debut “Homestead” was still largely devoted to classic sludge metal, the Seattle-based band already opened itself up to a broader spectrum of influences with its successor “The Flight After The Fall”. We took the release of the new album “Through The Hourglass” as an opportunity to speak with vocalist and guitarist Curtis Parker about escapism, great TV shows, and the question of “who sings what?”.
Hello Curtis! Your new album „Through The Hourglass“ has been out for a little while now. Looking back, are there any impressions or reactions – whether from the press or from touring – that have particularly stayed with you since its release?
Absolutely. Of course the best feedback will always be from our fanbase. They are amazing and so supportive of everything we do. A couple cool things have happened though. Having reviews and interviews in magazines like Decibel and Blabbermouth is always really cool. Being invited to play this year’s RIPPLEFEST is amazing and we are also going to be playing a couple shows with DETHKLOK. These are all going to be huge highlights for us this year.
Before we really dive into the new album: how did WITCH RIPPER originally begin? Tell us a bit about the early days of the band.
The project started with an EP actually. When I decided to move from Minneapolis to Seattle I didn’t know anyone so I recorded four songs in Minneapolis so that when I moved to Seattle I would be able to show people what I wanted to do and hopefully get some cool bandmates to help make it happen. Thankfully I did. Our drummer Joe has been with the band since our first shows. He’s now played on 3 albums. Brian our bassist, joined after we recorded „Homestead“ when our bassist at the time stepped down so we could tour. Chad joined the band during the recording of „The Flight After The Fall“ when we needed a new guitarist. The band keeps evolving in a really great way and its been an amazing journey.
Over the course of your history, you’ve gone through quite a remarkable evolution. From „Homestead“ to „The Flight After The Fall“, the leap in terms of genre diversity was already huge. What do you see as the core differences between those two albums and „Through The Hourglass“?
From „Homestead“ to „The Flight After The Fall“ was a huge jump. But in that shift I feel like we really started discovering who we were as a band. Since „Through The Hourglass“ was meant to continue the story of „The Flight After The Fall“ we didn’t try to change our sound but we did change the vibe. „The Flight After The Fall“ was bright and colorful with more major keys and such. „Through The Hourglass“ was intentionally a little darker and more “metal”.
Did you approach the new album with a clear vision in mind, or was it more important for you to follow the creative flow wherever it led?
Once I figured out what was working it was a clear vision. I wanted darker parts, more sinister sounding melodies and a ballad. We intentionally wrote the songs all in different keys so that as you listen to the album the songs actually move in a minor scale and eventually resolve back to the root on the last song. There’s also intentional repeated guitar melodies throughout the album to tie things together.
Your music draws influence from sludge, progressive music and heavy metal among other things. Who are your personal inspirations?
For this album we wanted a more classic metal feel. Bands like METALLICA and OZZY definitely influenced us. Personally I love prog metal so bands like OPETH and HAKEN are huge for me and how I like to put songs together.
Speaking of inspiration: are there artists outside of metal – musically or even in visual art – that you particularly admire? If so, who and why?
Absolutely. I’ll give you two. First the graphic novel series „Black Science“ by Rick Remender and the show „Scavengers Reign“ available on HBO and Netflix. Both are absolutely fantastic, thoughtful, dark and daring sci-fi experiences. Hugely influential for me when it comes to crafting our world.
What lyrical themes do you explore on „Through The Hourglass“?
So obviously we have our story of a scientist who finds himself in a world without time that feels familiar and ancient. He is eventually reunited with a version of his biggest regret. The Clock Queen and the album explores their journey. beyond all that sci-fi craziness we try to make songs relatable. So feelings of loss and regret. Hopefulness and acceptance. All of this is explored in the album.
Of course, lyrics also need to be conveyed through the voice. Since you actually have three singers in the band, do discussions ever come up about who should handle which vocal parts?
For sure. Because our vocals are very different sometimes parts are written with a clear idea of who will be singing on them. Sometimes once we start demoing vocals it becomes clear that certain voices work better on certain parts. Brian is great because he is our “support” vocalist. Sometimes singing backups for chad or emphasizing screams with me.
Are there any memories from the creation of „Through The Hourglass“ that stand out to you? Crises, lessons learned, things you’d like to approach differently on the next album – or maybe particular highlights?
We had a couple for sure. One for me personally was when our producer Matt Bayles decided that we needed to harmonize a guitar melody on „The Spiral Eye“. The melody already shifted in between keys so harmonizing was a brain melter. But we did it and it sounds amazing. The other would be having guest vocals on the bridge of the same song by Irene Barber. She came in and crushed it.
You’re on tour by now. How did fans react to the new material live?
We love it. It’s always interesting to see what songs work live really well. Songs like „Echos And Dust“ we knew would be bangers and people have been really loving that one. The sneaky one is „The Spiral Eye“ I didnt know how people would react to that live as its longer and plodding but people have really been into it.
What do you think makes your audience a special audience?
Were a progressive sludge metal playing full concept albums. People are not going to be there unless they want to and we truly appreciate it. Anyone who has been to our shows knows that we thank them for being there and that they could be doing anything (Netflix, video games or whatever) and they chose to support art that night. We always acknowledge and thank them.
When you look around the world today – and there’s really no other way to put it – it can be quite frightening. What would you like to give your fans in times like these?
If people are listening to our music we hope it provides an escape and journey into another sci fi world to take their minds off the hardships of the world. If its at a show we make sure that people have a good time and feel acknowledged.
What matters more to you and why: a perfectly polished and flawless show from beginning to end, or raw rock ’n’ roll with imperfections, mistakes and laughter for the sake of attitude and authenticity?
Oh we are definitely rock and roll live. It’s really complicated music and we are four human beings. Mistakes happen but more importantly we make sure the energy on stage is fun.
What are you especially looking forward to for the rest of this year – whether live-related or creatively?
I’m going to play my cards close to the chest on this one but I know the band is really excited about what the future holds.
And finally, our Metal1 brainstorming:
Witches: We fully support witchy shit.
RUSH: Hell yeah brother!
The ’70s: One of the greatest eras of music ever.
Future: We just hope AI doesn’t kill us all.
WITCH RIPPER in ten years: In one shape or another we will be making music.
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26. Mai 2026 Philipp Sorger
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