It’s not uncommon for metal bands to concoct their own genre terms for the music they create, though more often than not the new terminology is just a grab at attention for music that really sounds no different than what you’ve heard countless times before under age-old genre labels. But after you hear blackQueen’s new album The Directress, you’ll probably agree that the band’s description of their music as “Witch Metal” is just about exactly right — and that no other genre term you’ve heard before does a very good job capturing the album’s esoteric variety.

The Directress was released via Bandcamp on August 1, and those of you who have already discovered blackQueen’s black magic through their previous releases will have already pounced on it. For those who are new to the band or aren’t quite as quick to make the leap, we bring you a full stream of the album at the end of this post, as well as a look at the new video for the album’s opening track, “The Olde Religion”. Continue reading »