Interviews About Albums: WITCHRIDER - METAMORPH (2025)

In this new interview, we sat down with the Austrian Stoner Rock band WITCHRIDER to ask questions about their album, "METAMORPH".

1. What can you say about METAMORPH?

Metamorph is our 4th release and second EP; the first one was released back in 2013. It’s also the first release without former guitar player HP. He and I parted ways a couple of years ago, close to the release of “Electrical Storm”.

2. What is the meaning of the EP name?

Metamorph is something/someone that can change its figure/appearance. For us, the name stands for a transition…into something new. Metamorph is part of our process for this transition into a new path. The EP contains songs in “old styles” as well as some newer elements we want to focus on more in the future.

3. Which one is the composer of the METAMORPH?

Dan did most of the Demos for the songs heard on Metamorph, but there are a lot of influences from drummer Bernhard in there as well, as they both did quite a few sessions in the studio together. However, in the end, there are parts in the songs from everyone in the band.

4. If you had to pick one song, which one would you pick?

Alive or Used to be a King. Probably Alive, though, because it’s one of our favorite Songs of all time, and recording the song was just sooo much fun because we had so much freedom doing it. Gotta love the raw power of Used to be a King though.

5. Is there a special message in METAMORPH? If there is what it is?

The “special” message is the name itself. It stands for change, not by itself necessarily, but for things to come.

6. Are there some lyrics that you'd love to share?

In general, the lyrics on Metamorph are personal to Dan and show insights into struggles and life crises most people over the age of 30 might feel familiar with. However, the lyrics in “Alive” are special because Dan never re-recorded the vocals from the Demo. The ones you hear on there are still from the first Demo version; they just had a certain energy to them that we really loved and felt we wouldn’t be able to recreate. What’s also special about them is that they are not completely random, haha. When Dan writes Songs, the vocals’ lyrics in the demos are usually heavily improvised; he just focuses on melody and how the sound of words transports feelings and emotions. So, the Lyrics rarely have meaning, yet a lot of times the sentences make no sense at all. “Alive”, however, is an exception because it already had everything we wanted in the demo… it just felt right from the beginning.

7. Which inspirations have been important for METAMORPH? Like musically or friends, family, someone you'd love to thank especially?

I think for Metamorph, it was important that we find ourselves again. To “re” discover why we are making music in the first place and what it means to follow your passion. It brought back light and opened inspiration for future music. However, if we had to pick one person we really want to mention, it’s Sebastian Wurm from Rockstudio. Thank you, Wurmi, not just for recording the EP with us and giving us the time and space we needed to do it, but also for giving Dan a new home for future creative and musical output. Moreover, being a good friend and a decent human being, attributes that seem to be pushed into the background a lot nowadays.

8. Something to add?

Obviously, we want to thank the fans and supporters for being there, listening to our music and seeing us live, or hitting us up with messages…you guys are the real MVP,s and every musician/band knows and appreciates the involvement of their fans in their art.