Renowned ASH drummer RICK MCMURRAY has released his debut solo album as BURNED BY WITCHES on all DSPs with a Black vinyl version available on 8 May. Following the release last month of the first single from the album, Hold Your Nerve, the second single, Pay The Ferry, has now also been released. Listen to both singles here
Burned As Witches is the sonically-piledriving side hustle of Rick ‘Rock’ McMurray, prime time Ash drummer. If Hold Your Nerve is kinda stoner rock but not really stoned, Pay The Ferry drags the melody kicking and shrieking from the mass of lunging riffs and great big solos. It’s five minutes of pukka metal and therefore fits Rick’s rocking world like the leatherest of gloves.
Or, as the man himself explains … “If Hold Your Nerve was about loss of control in a world spinning out of control, Pay The Ferry is an attempt to reassert control via the medium of bardic curse. Being knee deep in everything-Alan Moore that I could get my hands on during the writing process, Pay The Ferry became my attempt to destroy the politico-economic system that has us all in its grip. Ambitious? Yeah. Deluded? Undoubtedly. But you got to try these things. And let’s face it; it feels like the world is teetering on the verge. Who’s not to say this might push it over the edge …”
The album lands in the briefest of interludes from the day job in Ash, who have basically been working non-stop since the release of Race The Night in 2023 through to the current Ad Astra album. As Rick says, “If you’re expecting slices of power-punk-pop, then think again,” because Burned As Witches positively drips with riffing heaviosity, big-boned solos and beefy chord crunchings. This is intense on all levels. McMurray also plays every note on every track. This is NOT like the day job!
Burned As Witches began as a way of dealing with the untimely passing of Ash’s long term live agent, friend and rock n roll hellraiser Steve Strange in 2021. Inspired by the Strange One’s love of metal, the record was conceived in mourning, full of chunky riffs, weighty themes and all about the doom. Rest very assured, Burned As Witches is an out and out rock album
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