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Ratchet Blade Records Offers Shipping Savings on Phantom CDs

The Phantom of the Black Hills and Ratchet Blade Records are aware of the insane International shipping charges and and have worked with their on-demand supplier to bring a cost efficient CD to international fans. They are offering a jewel case edition of all POTBH albums, complete with a full color 2 panel insert, back cover and disc. These are shipping straight from the manufacturer so they ship separately from any other items in your order, but if you want these albums with just $6 shipping (as opposed to $17+ shipping for the regular editions) this is the way to go. The Phantom CDs also include a full digital download of the album. The albums that are a part of this deal are (click HERE to order):

Phantom CDsTHAT WITCH – “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 dark western 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.”

Phantom CDsSCALPED – “Whatever the case, POTBH have produced an album that veers from out and country to the lunatic fringe industrialism of Ministry: this is probably understandable, as the only piece of information the band proffer about themselves is that their music would be the result of “Glenn Danzig and Al Jourgensen stayed up all night listening to old Porter Wagoner and Hank Sr. records and drinking homemade corn liquor”.”

MOONSHINE BRIGHT – The Phantom of the Black Hills provide their new album “Moonshine Bright” as the appropriate soundtrack. Traditional country, blitzkrieg guitars and distorted vocals take on violin, banjo and mandolin. The result of this mixture are ten dark and wild, masterfully produced by Cramps Bassist Chopper Franklin, songs about the dark side of life. Great!”

Phantom CDsENEMY! – “The first two albums must’ve been dress rehearsals for this release. it’s like the Phantom & the boys (Popeye, Doc Helliday, & Deacon) picked up new quills dipped in blood to pen this new album. Lyrically more dark and intense than the previous two releases Enemy is filled with musical imagery or war, lust, death, and hell. Produced by Chopper Franklin [Bassist, the Cramps] and mixed by the legend himself Geza X [Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, The Germs, The Mau Maus]. For me this was a much anticipated release. The arrangement of the music is flawless, the lyrics are controversial as ever and I fucking love this album!”

BORN TO GUN – “Hailing from the depths of Hades comes the Phantom of the Black Hills. Hillbilly, banjo pickin’ madness from your darkest nightmares.  Mysterious masked men dressed like bandits stirring up timely images of train robbin’ outlaws dancing with saloon girls. “Born To Gun” is a stunning, unique, sinister medley of Hellbilly, country and bluegrass with an unhealthy dose of industrial noise thrown in for proper measure.”

GHOSTS – “What do you get when you cross the rougher side of Hank Williams III with Samhain’s classic debut “Initium”? You get “Ghosts”, the first album from the black as pitch two-man cowpunk nightmare known as Phantom Of The Black Hills. A devil’s concoction of country music instrumentation (banjo, steel guitar and fiddle) and punk rock rage and song structures, “Ghosts” is one of the most ambitious and original records I’ve heard in some time, coming across like the bizarre lost soundtrack to the film There Will Be Blood, and it succeeds on every level.”

‘That Witch’ – Dark Western Music Review

dark western musicFrom 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, Bluegrass with distorted vocals and mysterious mystique and a dark, very dark western music 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!

Dark Western Music

The Phantom and Mather Louth

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, Bluegrass and dark western 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.

Phantom of the Black Hills

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.

“Time to take a vow and consecrate
Using skin and motion as my bait
The cauldron is a-bubblin’
Got to go and show him sin
Lucifer just don’t want to wait…”

‘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’.

Phantom of the Black Hills - Dark Western Music

That Witch was released July 2nd on Ratchet Blade Records. The Los Angeles based label home to the Heathen Apostles, Doghouse Lords, the Mau Maus, Charley Horse, Berlin Brats and many more. Ratchet Blade Records describes itself, correctly, as “the best in dark roots music”. Once again it features the amazingly talented former The Cramps bassist, and current Heathen Apostles one, Chopper Franklin on production duties. To be honest I’m kinda upset this ain’t a Celtic-Punk album as it would definitely be up there in our end of year Best Of awards. Looks like I’m going to have to make up a special new category just for them!
Dark Western Music

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 dark western 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.”

Hellbilly Lyric Videos “Rising Son” & “Buck Knife”

Ratchet Blade RecordsHellbilly lyric videos has released two hellbilly 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:

Pre Sale For Dark Country Album “That Witch”

dark country albumThe pre sale has launched for the sixth Phantom of the Black Hills dark 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

Phantom of the Black Hills Releasing “That Witch” – Heavy Western Music

Phantom of the Black Hills- Heavy Western MusicYour favorite doom country band the Phantom of the Black Hills are releasing some new Heavy Western music, 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. True Heavy Western music, “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 June.

POTBH - Heavy Western music

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