Ratchet Blade Records

The final tour dates have been announced for the Heathen Apostles September 2021 European Tour, they will be visiting Germany, France, Sweden Italy, Belgium and The Netherlands. Their Gothic Country tour was booked to make up for the postponed tour of September 2020, and they are playing many of the same venues on board one year later. They will be supporting their upcoming EP Bloodgrass Vol. 3, out August 27th on Ratchet Blade Records, and the precursor to the 2022 release of the Bloodgrass Vol. 3 & 4 album.

There are still dates open for their 2022 May/June European tour, if you have a venue that would like to book the Heathen Apostles, or know of one, Kurt DeBont at Rootstown Bookings HERE.

Heathen Apostles September Gothic Outlaw Country 2021 tour:
02/09/2021 Thursday Kulturrampe Germany Krefeld
03/09/2021 Friday Alter Open Air Stage Germany Mannheim
04/09/2021 Saturday City Club Germany Augsburg
05/09/2021 Sunday available
06/09/2021 Monday l’Usine Switzerland Genève
7/09/2021 Tuesday BlahBlah Italy Torino
08/09/2021 Wednesday available
09/09/2021 Thursday Willemeen The Netherlands Arnhem
10/09/2021 Friday available
11/09/2021 Saturday CC Muze Belgium Zolder
12/09/2021 Sunday The Grand Canyon Belgium Nazareth
13/09/2021 Monday available
14/09/2021 Tuesday Tortuga Germany Unna
15/09/2021 Wednesday Bei Chez Heinz Germany Hannover
16/09/2021 Thursday Monkeys Germany Hamburg
17/09/2021 Friday Wild At Heart Germany Berlin
18/09/2021 Saturday Sonic Ballroom Germany Köln
19/09/2021 Sunday BUSKERfestival Belgium Aarschot

From the London Celtic Punks website: “One of the best bands to wield a banjo IN THE WORLD Phantom Of The Black Hills soak in influences as varied as Country, Punk, Goth, Folk and gothic Bluegrass with distorted vocals and mysterious mystique and a dark, very dark ethos.

That Witch is their 6th studio album and they are accompanied by Mather Louth from renowned ‘Gothic Americana’ band Heathen Apostles.

To put it simply Phantom Of The Black Hills are fantastic!!

When I saw that their was a new Phantom Of The Black Hills album on the way I can admit to being pretty bloody excited. Even though I love music we receive so much here at London Celtic Punks Towers that it is hard sometimes to rally up enthusiasm for new releases but for That Witch I was even willing to pay (those that know me will know how incredible that is!). Luckily for my Scots /Yorkshire sensibilities I was incredibly lucky to receive a free download from Ratchet Blade Records and it’s not left my lugholes ever since!

That Witch had originally been planned for release in 2020 but with all the shit going on was delayed almost a year. For those wishing to pigeonhole the label’s most bandied about for the Phantom Of The Black Hills are ‘hellbilly’, ‘frontier-core’ or ‘doom country’ and all capture them pretty fairly squarely and imaginatively. Taking elements of Country, Folk, Punk, Psychobilly and gothic Bluegrass music, while mixing traditional instruments like mandolin, banjo and fiddle but combining them with fiercely dark and angry polemic, crunching guitars, snarling distorted vocals, intense sound effects and cleverly used movie dialog this is one ‘country’ band you won’t see at the Grand Ole Opry! Shrouded in secrecy hiding themselves away from the glare of publicity the bandana’s they wear in their videos and photos are very careful not to give away any clue as to their identities so it’s kind of hard to tell you anymore about the band themselves! That Witch is their sixth album, the last being Scalped in 2017. That album was to first to feature guest vocals from the lovely Mather Louth on ‘Wild Witch Of The West’ (be sure to check out the brilliant video). She also doubles up as the lead singer of excellent fellow ‘Gothic Americana’ band Heathen Apostles and she guest vocals on pretty much the whole of That Witch giving the album that little extra special range.

That Witch begins in superb form with ‘Rising Son’ and The Phantom snarling his way through a song that takes the point of view of Native American’s and their resistance to the early settlers who sought to steal their land and force them onto special reservations.

“This ain’t Oklahoma

And I was here long before ya

Mistress Darkness has come

And when the night is done

I’m the rising son”

The song is a slow burner. A dark foreboding of what is to come building to a climax in the lyrics rather than the tune. Excellent fiddle throughout from El Gato is matched by Popeye on guitar, banjo and bass and Deacon on drums.

‘That Witch’ sees The Phantom and Mather dueling it out on vocals and it’s another dark slower song and I think it’s fair to say that while their albums have progressively darker the sound has mellowed somewhat though the heaviness of the music does mitigate that. You often think you’re listening to a much faster song than you actually are. We get a fast one next with the album’s lead single ‘Buck Knife’ and the tragic tale of a veteran of the Civil War suffering from PTSD. On returning to his home town he is shunned and the story climaxes in a orgy of deadly violence before ending with the kind of twist to make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck.

Heathen Apostles are one hell of a band in their own right and it is absolute genius to team her up with the Phantom Of the Black Hills. The perfect foil to The Phantom’s vocals her beautiful voice on ‘Lady Judas’ belies the story while we do see a lot less of the electric guitar like on next track ‘Moon Killer’ with vocals now dominating but it works a treat and the distorted vocals are still clear enough to understand every word and the various tales of  violence, drunkenness, debauchery and revenge.

‘Hunger’ is co-written by Mather Louth and the band and she leads here her voice soaring above the bands train-like rumble and that majestic fiddle.  The Phantom takes the rein back for ‘Road To Bleeding’. This is the kind of song that previously they would have slung hard and heavy electric guitar all over but now they treat more gently. ‘Sin & Sanctify’ is as close (still not that close really) as they come to a traditional Country song while the album continues to its violent conclusion with two of the album’s best songs ‘Wicked Storm’ and the storming ‘Attack’.

The Phantom Of The Black Hills have come a long way since Ghosts and while their sound may not be quite as raucous as then they still are as powerful and heavy and perform even more gothic Bluegrass music than ever before. The teaming up with the beautiful Mather Louth adds a whole new dimension to the sound. It’s a dark world out there and the imagery The Phantom Of The Black Hills conjure up in the mind may not be a pleasant one but it’s an imaginative one filled with the ghosts of the wronged, deserted mines and villages, dust and dirt and the people who lived there and also the  best music the ‘old’ west can produce.”

Ratchet Blade Records has released two doom country lyric videos from the new Phantom of the Black Hills album That Witch. Here are the videos for Rising Son and Buck Knife, along with some brief descriptions:

The Massacre at Wounded Knee was initially referred to as the “Battle of Wounded Knee”. A metal plate was added to the signage at the site to correct this, and remains to this day.

By the time the massacre was over, more than 250 men, women and children of the Lakota had been killed and 51 were wounded (4 men and 47 women and children, some of whom died later); some estimates placed the number of dead as high as 300.

Twenty US soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor for their participation in the slaughter. By contrast, only three Medals of Honor were awarded among the 64,000 South Dakotans who fought for four years of World War II:

The lyric video for the song Buck Knife tells the tale of a Civil War veteran suffering from PTSD and the reception he receives when he returns home:

The pre sale has launched for the sixth Phantom of the Black Hills heavy country album “That Witch”, out July 2nd on Ratchet Blade Records. It features the Heathen Apostles’ Mather Louth on vocals and Chopper Franklin once again pulling production duties. The digital pre sale is the album for the reduced price of $5, and the CD pre sale includes the digipak CD (as well as the digital download), 2 POTBH buttons and a POTBH Shotgun sticker, all for $10. You will also receive early shipping of your order before the release date, as well as an immediate download of the title track.

Check it out HERE.

That Witch
1. Rising Son
2. That Witch
3. Buck Knife
4. Lady Judas
5. Moon Killer
6. Hunger
7. Road To Bleeding
8. Sin & Sanctity
9. Wicked Storm
10. Attack

Our favorite doom country band the Phantom of the Black Hills are releasing a new Heavy Western album, and their labelmates Heathen Apostles are all over it. Their lead vocalist Mather Louth is singing on several of the songs, and bandmate Chopper Franklin produced and mixed it. Here’s the press blurb from RBR:

Ratchet Blade Records is proud to announce the July 2nd release of “That Witch”, the highly-anticipated seventh release from the notorious hellbilly/doom country band the Phantom of the Black Hills. A true Heavy Western album, “That Witch” is the follow up to Ghosts (2009), Born To Gun (2010), ENEMY! (2012) and Black Hearted Killer EP (2013), Moonshine Bright (2014) & Scalped (2017) and was produced and mixed by Chopper Franklin.

The band is joined on the album by Mather Louth, lead vocalist for the Gothic Americana band the Heathen Apostles, of which Franklin is also a member.

Check back for the launch of the That Witch Pre Sale in August.

Track Listing:
1. RISING SON
2. THAT WITCH
3. BUCK KNIFE
4. LADY JUDAS
5. MOON KILLER
6. HUNGER
7. ROAD TO BLEEDING
8. SIN & SANCTITY
9. WICKED STORM
10. ATTACK

Gothic Country EP Review by Luminous Dash zine – Featuring ex-members from Radio Noir (Mather Louth, vocals), The Cramps, Mau Maus and Nick Curran & The Lowlifes (Chopper Franklin on guitar, mandolin, banjo, keyboards, drums), Kings of Nuthin’ (Thomas Lorioux, bass) and top violinist Luis Mascaro, Heathen Apostles was formed in Los Angeles and born of the voices of past lives and baptized in the dust bowl dirt. They settle into a sound that merges the contrasts between goth and Americana in a darkly rooted bohemian country atmosphere.

The Heathen Apostles is band that never seems to rest on its laurels, as you can see from their many energetic live performances and a whole series of albums, EPs and singles in their discography. This year they had a string of canceled and postponed concerts, but it gave them the opportunity to record their new EP Prayers Before The Plague. They played, and filmed, a live set at the headquarters / home of the band ‘The Devil’s Doghouse’ in Echo Park (California), included the six tracks that ended up on Prayers Before The Plague. And although nothing can match playing in front of a live audience, on the EP we find the hard driven emotions of passionate musicians on every track. “It is the band’s gift to a world that has almost no live music for most of this year. It’s also a reminder of the importance of music itself, be it bad or good times. Music and art must continue and survive ”, they say.

“Without A Trace” is immediately a strong opener, showing the authentic sound of the foursome. Excitingly lively, the violin immediately takes us on a tour along southern dry roads, where the warm dark timbre of the dark diva Mather Louth works out for a devilish side, as well as for sweet playful indulgence.

“Death’s Head” sounds a lot darker. With a raw bass line and light grit on the microphone, this track sets the perfect soundtrack for a night in which you look death, the devil and your demons straight in the eye and continue to travel your own way with those country boots with determination.

“The song seems fitting for these troubled times, but it seems like there might be a light at the end of the tunnel,” the band explains about Drowned In Trouble . An up tempo track full of rhythm, where the vocals are loaded with melancholy while the strings keep flirting along.

“Two For The Road” sounds defiantly brutal , while “The Reckoning” sounds theatrically brutal, just because the instrumental is so rich and heavy and the roughness here brings a certain mystique to the song. “Paint The Stars” ends in a bluegrass atmosphere in embracing softness.

An EP that bathes in a country and gypsy atmosphere, but with a dark, almost bloody edge. Although we lack the experience, Prayers Before The Plague may look a bit like a night with Nick Cave and Johnny Cash. A musical threesome between overheated, dark sheets filled with melancholy and spunk, which may end in a murder ballad …

The EP Prayers Before The Plague has been released digitally on the Ratchet Blade Records label.

More tour dates have been announced for the Heathen Apostles May/June 2021 European Tour, check out the dates for this Gothic Western tour below. Their September 2021 European tour is also being booked, if you have a venue that would like to book the Heathen Apostles, or know of one, Kurt DeBont at Rootstown Bookings HERE. The band has posted the following statement on their media accounts:

Feels good to post some of our 2021 European tour dates for May and June in these uncertain times. We’ll have our Bloodgrass Vol. 3 EP done and it’ll be great to see you all again. We still have some dates available, so if you have a venue or know of one let Kurt DeBont at Rootstown bookings know about it – bookings@rootstown.be. Looking forward to seeing you all soon.

20/05 Thursday available
21/05 Fri. Extra Blues-Bar – Bielefeld, GER
22/05 Sat. Treibsand – Lübeck, GER
23/05 Sunday available
24/05 Mon. Buchholz Saloon, Altlandsberg, GER
25/05 Tuesday available
26/05 Wed. Sonic Ballroom -Köln, GER
27/05 Thurs. Willemeen, Arnhem, NE
28/05 Fri. Kufa Löseke, Hildesheim, GER
29/05 Sat. Paradox, Tilburg, NE
30/05 Sun. The Grand Canyon, Nazareth, BE
31/05 Monday available
01/06 Tuesday available
02/06 Wednesday available
03/06 Thursday available
04/06 Fri. JC De Klinker – Aarschot, BE
05/06 Sat. De Pit, Terneuzen, NE
06/06 Sunday available

Heathen Apostles – Prayers Before The Plague – Southern Gothic Live EP – By ViolaNoir.com

Live releases are probably experiencing their rebirth. Which is understandable and completely expected. However, even before the covid, Heathen Apostles pleased the audience with this. They are masters of live performances, and don’t forget about their spectacular and memorable clips. So studio work is only 2/3 of Heathen Apostles. To understand their concept, their southern rage and dark roots angst, you need to hear them live. But since such an opportunity will not be presented soon, this EP given to help us.

Without A Trace from the second LP and the undisputed hit Death’s Head create a powerful, authentic introduction, Drowned In Trouble absolute is successfully replaced by the intense history of Two For The Road. There was also a place in this set for the mystical The Reckoning from the first releases of Heathen Apostles (with a surprise intro) and the bluegrass theme of Paint The Stars.

Releases like this – an escapism session with immersive effect – will ultimately save both the genre and the scene. 8/10

Live-релизы переживают, наверное, свое второе рождение. Что понятно и совершенно ожидаемо. Впрочем, и до ковида Heathen Apostles радовали в этом плане. Они — мастера живых выступлений, перфомансов, и не стоит забывать про их зрелищные и запоминающиеся клипы. Так что студийная работа – это лишь 2/3 Heathen Apostles. Чтобы понять их концепт, их southern ярость и dark roots тоску, нужно услышать их вживую. Но поскольку такая возможность представится нескоро, нам в помощь данный Ep.

Without A Trace со второго лонгплея и безусловный хит Death’s Head создают мощное, аутентичное, колоритное вступление, абсолют southern Drowned In Trouble удачно сменяется яркой историей Two For The Road. Нашлось в этом сете место и мистическому The Reckoning с первых релизов Heathen Apostles (причем с неожиданным интро) и bluegrass теме Paint The Stars.

Такие релизы — сеанс эскапизма с эффектом присутствия — в конце концов, спасут и жанр, и сцену в общем плане. 8/10

The Heathen Apostles have debuted the second Gothic Western music video from their live EP Prayers Before The Plague, out on Ratchet Blade Records. It was recorded live at their headquarters The Devil’s Doghouse in Echo Park, Ca. during quarantine for the COVID 19 pandemic, and shortly after announcing the postponement of their 2020 European and West Coast tours. The European tour is being rebooked, click HERE to contact Rootstown Bookings for booking info and tour dates.

An announcement about the Death’s Head video straight from the band:

“Today is the debut of our live video for “Death’s Head”, the perfect soundtrack for your Devil’s Night! It is from our upcoming EP “Prayers Before The Plague” out Halloween (tomorrow!) on Ratchet Blade Records. Today is the last day for the $4 pre sale, and a sincere thank you to all that have pre ordered this release so far, your support in these trying times means the world to us. Check it out by clicking HERE.”

The Heathen Apostles have had to postpone one US tour and one European tour (as well as several shows) this year due to COVID 19. The European tours have been rescheduled for May/June and September 2021, and in the meantime the band are pleased to announce the release of their new Western Gothic EP Prayers Before The Plague, out this Halloween on Ratchet Blade Records. The songs were recorded, and filmed, live at the band’s headquarters/compound/home The Devil’s Doghouse in Echo Park, Ca., and it is produced and mixed by Chopper Franklin. While nothing can replicate playing in front of a fanatical audience, they really poured themselves into these songs.

The Heathens will be releasing four videos from the performance, the first (Without A Trace) coming out today, October 23rd, which is also when Ratchet Blade Records launches the pre sale. You can preview and pre order their Western Gothic EP HERE.

“It would mean a lot to us it if you could check it out and help support the band any way you can as we complete Bloodgrass Vol. III and finish booking these tours. We always appreciate when you spend your hard-earned cash to join us on this dark journey, especially now, as we realize times are tougher than usual,” the bands says.

Prayers Before The Plague
1. Without A Trace (Live)
2. Death’s Head (Live)
3. Drowned In Trouble (Live)
4. Two For The Road (Live)
5. The Reckoning (Live)
6. Paint The Stars (Live)