Biography
Following the demise of underground metal outfit Thorshammer, most of its lineup regrouped without vocalist Ozma and bassist James Hale, shifting toward a markedly slower and heavier direction that gave rise to Burning Witch. The new ensemble stood among extreme music’s slowest and lowest acts, probing gloomier terrain than doom metal and spookier atmospheres than sludge while excavating the most remote reaches of negativity and despair. Later groups have replicated the minimal beats-per-minute and heavily detuned approach, yet Burning Witch’s recordings remain singular in their penetration of fear, paranoia, and the full spectrum of bitter human feeling.
Once Thorshammer concluded operations in 1995, guitarists Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson—the latter previously of post-rock group Engine Kid—joined drummer Jamie Sykes to launch Burning Witch, aiming to surpass their earlier band’s heaviness. Bassist G. Stuart Dahlquist and vocalist Edgy 59 soon completed the lineup. Anderson departed to form stoner outfit Goatsnake before any substantial recordings occurred, leaving the band to proceed as a single-guitar unit. In 1996 they tracked their first EP, Towers, under producer Steve Albini. Like the preceding Thorshammer material, Towers quickly resonated throughout the heavier music underground, where doom and sludge listeners fixated on its radical rethinking of rock structure. The following year brought a second EP, Rift.Canyon.Dreams, whose more experimental character emerged through intricate yet still weighty and cyclical riffs that yielded a mature yet relentlessly punishing sound; drummer B.R.A.D. replaced Sykes for those sessions. Shortly after the second release, Burning Witch dissolved in 1997.
One year later the two EPs appeared together as the compilation Crippled Lucifer (Seven Psalms for Our Lord of Light) on Southern Lord, the stoner and doom imprint founded by O’Malley and former guitarist Anderson. The collection’s impact helped establish the label commercially, prompting its founders to sign additional acts and positioning Southern Lord as a central hub for the style—an achievement that alone grants Burning Witch lasting relevance within the stoner and doom community. In 2000 Hydra Head Records issued a split with Goatsnake that collected the remaining unreleased Burning Witch tracks, effectively closing the group’s discography. Beyond their work at Southern Lord, O’Malley and Anderson maintain their ambient and doom experimental project Sunn 0))); Anderson also continued with Goatsnake, which Dahlquist joined in 2000, while Edgy 59 later formed Sinisstar.
Once Thorshammer concluded operations in 1995, guitarists Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson—the latter previously of post-rock group Engine Kid—joined drummer Jamie Sykes to launch Burning Witch, aiming to surpass their earlier band’s heaviness. Bassist G. Stuart Dahlquist and vocalist Edgy 59 soon completed the lineup. Anderson departed to form stoner outfit Goatsnake before any substantial recordings occurred, leaving the band to proceed as a single-guitar unit. In 1996 they tracked their first EP, Towers, under producer Steve Albini. Like the preceding Thorshammer material, Towers quickly resonated throughout the heavier music underground, where doom and sludge listeners fixated on its radical rethinking of rock structure. The following year brought a second EP, Rift.Canyon.Dreams, whose more experimental character emerged through intricate yet still weighty and cyclical riffs that yielded a mature yet relentlessly punishing sound; drummer B.R.A.D. replaced Sykes for those sessions. Shortly after the second release, Burning Witch dissolved in 1997.
One year later the two EPs appeared together as the compilation Crippled Lucifer (Seven Psalms for Our Lord of Light) on Southern Lord, the stoner and doom imprint founded by O’Malley and former guitarist Anderson. The collection’s impact helped establish the label commercially, prompting its founders to sign additional acts and positioning Southern Lord as a central hub for the style—an achievement that alone grants Burning Witch lasting relevance within the stoner and doom community. In 2000 Hydra Head Records issued a split with Goatsnake that collected the remaining unreleased Burning Witch tracks, effectively closing the group’s discography. Beyond their work at Southern Lord, O’Malley and Anderson maintain their ambient and doom experimental project Sunn 0))); Anderson also continued with Goatsnake, which Dahlquist joined in 2000, while Edgy 59 later formed Sinisstar.
Albums