Here is a short bio of WYKKED WYTCH to sum everything up. Basically I've been doing music my whole life while originally starting out with Pop & Opera as a teenager. When I came to the states I became fascinated with Hard Rock & Metal and wanted to form my own group which became WYKKED WYTCH. I've been doing WYKKED WYTCH since mid 90's which started out as a band in Philadelphia playing Death / Thrash Metal in the beginning. Over the years the band has progressed into what it is today an international act which has toured all over the world and became extreme Metal act combining Death, Thrash, Black Metal that is melodic technical and has vocals ranging form death growls, high pitched screams, and some clean & operatic passage thrown in for atmosphere. The newest album "The Ultimate Deception" is the fifth album and is represents the WYKKED WYTCH of today. If you want more of the story go to www.wykkedwytch.comfor the bio.

My original main Metal influences to get started were MERCYFUL FATE / KING DIAMOND, TESTAMENT, DEATH and DIO. I started with the harder stuff and that's what grasped me. Personally I also like Hard Rock, all forms of metal, Classical and Jazz in the real early years before Metal but currently just listen to Hard Rock & Metal.

I cannot say it's a breakthrough but maybe an eye opener for the Metal listener who is not familiar with the group. The old fans love the clips that they've heard and gaining many new fans in the process. But check out my previous albums so you can get an idea how we've progressed. Each album stands on its own and all come from different time frame and influences but still great songs and music there. If you are new to the band listen from the latest album to the oldest to get the best out of it. The first album was more of a demo of a band starting out. I don't think we really found our sound till the last album and have taken it to the next level with this one. I've always had different band members on each release, which makes it very interesting. Old albums were like a baby steps you fall get hurt eventually you walk and now we are running.

This was the first time working with Daniel. I knew he was going to be great from hearing his previous works. That's why we decided to go all the way out to California to do this album. We wanted his excellent production.  Alan Douches we had worked with us before on "Memories of A Dying Whore" he was referred from our mixing engineer Eric Rachel. I'm so addicted to his mastering god forbid something happened to dude don't know what I would do.

Yes. At time of writing this album I was in disarray. What happened to me in regards to betrayal and backstabbing from ex-band members was driving me insane. I was ready to kill and destroy everything and anything so the speak. So I was very angry and determined to get even and take control over the worst situation and make it into a positive. It's like surviving a big disaster and dealing with the aftermath. The lyrics I have written reflected on where my mind was at the time. I wanted to slit their throats, rape their loved ones and piss on their graves and wanted carve my name on their skin like one of those horror movies. Thank God I'm not a violent person but in my thoughts I was doing it and getting off on that fantasy. Yes, I did do a few shouts to them "Fuck you All" I'm still here and alive!

Well of course Natemade a huge impact with this work why not continue? Natecame in with fresh ideas and spiced up the WYKKED WYTCH recipe. I don't like to fix or repeat things unless they are broken.

Kevinis a young talented drummer and has been in the scene a long time. He very busy with many projects and has other commitments. It would be cool to have him in the group but I have a great young drummer Westonjust as badass so we will continue kick ass live. At the time of the recording he was not available and wanted to make sure we had the best drums as possible that would bring out the songs and that is why we chose Kevinto do the album. Our live drummer Westonis just as capable to play this shit. He performed with us in 2009 at the California Metalfest& European Tour. You can check him out on our YouTubechannel – www.youtube.com/wykkedwytch.

Thanks for the compliment. The last album was the first time WYKKED WYTCH ever recorded a cover song. We had so much fun and had a great reaction that I decided that we would put one cover song on each album from now on. It took months for us to decide on what song we did. Finally decided on a doing a METALLICA tune. We figured no matter who you are: a fan of the old music, hillbilly that digs the new shit or a bored housewife everyone loves METALLICA. The decision was last minute we did it the last day in the studio, almost didn't get on the album. "Fade To Black" was picked because it hasn't been widely covered. I couldn't find any bands that covered the song differently than the original or had it on their album. I really wanted to sing extreme with harsh vocals like true underground Black Metal style and really fuck it up but Nate would not allow me to destroy it completely. We decided that we had to beef it up and add our style to it, but still leave enough of it there for fans to recognize the song. When bands do a cover song you need to put your own stamp of it and make it like it fits in with one of your songs, but still has an identity of the original. So many bands do a cover song identical and what's the point of that?

Yes, WYKKED WYTCH has been part of the Metal scene for a long time. Finally we are getting more recognized and soon hope to be a household name. I'm originally from Europe and have been working for so long therefore combining my ancient Euro recipe blended with American new world ingredients make a perfect home made, organic stew. How do you like that? We hope by combining the Europe and American influences we have a style that is intriguing to the listener and there is something for everyone you digs extreme Metal. Nowadays Metal, like every genre, is oversaturated with so many bands. You need to do something different to stand out which is hard. By keeping our music fresh and evolving I don't see us fitting into one scene. I think with the right exposure that we can bring more fans our way and appeal to a wider audience

The fifth album "The Ultimate Deception" comes out Feb 14^th in the US and March in Europe so pickup a copy. You can get it cheap from our label site www.goombamusic.com. We are also going to shoot video next month and working on getting tour dates. When making an album it's two parts – first the writing/recording and now is the hard work of touring and promoting.

Thank You for the great intelligent interview & review. I appreciate the opportunity to have people around the world check it out. Hello to our Greek fans! We hope to come play to guys soon. Buy the new album "The Ultimate Deception". I also want to mention that I do a weekly radio show at www.metalmessiahradio.com. The show is called "Ipek's Wytching Hour" and airs every Thursday night 9pm – 11pm check it out.

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