Sardonic Witchery is a band that is deeply rooted in the underground scene. The guys have just released a compilation of old songs, as well as a brand-new album called "Hell's Thorns Attack" (read the review here). I had the pleasure of talking to mastermind King Demogorgon, although some technical issues made the interview a little more difficult than expected. Nevertheless, we managed to get everything together and, despite the problems, it was quite fun talking to him. Enjoy reading, and check out the new album – it's a killer one!

Michael

Hails, King Demogorgon! How are you doing?

Good, haha!!

Before we start talking about Sardonic Witchery in more detail, maybe you can introduce your band a little bit more to us?

Well, I started Sardonic Witchery in 2012 by myself after I disbanded the band I had been in for 11 years, called Infernal Kingdom. In that band, I was just a musician and the other member was the singer. So we did that for 11 years, and after that we divorced and said that neither of us would continue with the band, so I started a new band by myself. That was Sardonic Witchery in 2012.

I tried to find a new singer. I wrote the lyrics and, after all, I had some auditions with some guys, but I decided to do it by myself (laughs). So I did the first demo in 2012, Hidden Shadows, on cassette, with a guitar pedal and distortion on the vocals. I liked it, so I decided to stay as the singer. That was the first time in my life I had ever done that. I had never thought about doing vocals; I had always just been a musician.

It must have been quite a busy year for you, having released a compilation called "Under the Sign of the Trident", the upcoming album "Hell's Thorns Attack", plus playing a lot of live gigs with a new and stable band member who has to be trained, right?

This year was crazy. Two years ago, when we released the fourth album, Barbaric Evil Power, my intention was just to be a studio band at that time. I didn't have any intention of playing live anymore. The last show I did before the album was at Mass Destruction Fest in Atlanta in 2022 with some great fucking bands. Gabriel Luis Ruina was already there as the live guitar player.

After that, I did the album, and Gabriel said that we could play some other shows because that one had been so amazing. I said okay, but we decided to do just one more. But more and more offers were coming, so we did them, including Under the Black Sun 2025 in Germany.

Luis said that we could take the musicians from his band because it was easier to work with them. They learn fast, and because I live in Texas and Gabriel lives in Washington, D.C., it made things easier. I met another guitarist living in Texas, but I don't know why, maybe he had problems playing live or whatever, so Luis offered to record the solos and also, because he is a producer, to record the album. Barbaric Evil Power already had some participation from Luis.

After we had been working with him for almost three years and he was so dedicated to the project, I decided that this guy was the right one to work with and that he could improve the band and bring some extra elements to it. I don't want to put somebody into the band just because he is a friend or a nice guy, but I decided to go ahead as a duo now.

I gave him the offer after Under the Black Sun to do the next album together and have him as a permanent member, and he was very enthusiastic about that. So we did the album, which was ready in December 2025, and we decided to do a compilation, Under the Sign of the Trident, just to buy some time to find better labels than the ones I had worked with before because we think that this album is really very good.

We also wanted to have something to play and represent the band at Maryland Deathfest and Darkness Over Cumbria in England. So we re-recorded old songs for that compilation, and Luis already put his own touch into them and made some changes to the songs.

I guess the main focus was the release of the upcoming album, though. What makes the difference compared to your previous releases, would you say?

The previous releases were done completely by myself. Everything was written and recorded by myself; just the guitar solos on the first recordings were done by some other guys. So I did everything else – drums, guitar, I composed everything.

On this album, Luis wrote about 90% of the riffs because he is a lot better guitar player than me (laughs). He's a master on the guitar. I just tell him what I want, and he does the stuff I cannot do.

I heard a lot of old thrash influences on "Hell's Thorns Attack", mainly Slayer from their first two albums. Was this a major inspiration for you?

Of course! That was the idea. I'm really into metal, and my influences come from Slayer, Pantera, Sepultura, Judas Priest. Everything for me started when I was a kid, and later I started getting into more extreme metal.

I cannot remember what the first album was, whether it was Immortal or Dark Funeral, when I started listening to black metal, but I love a lot of metal. I like glam, thrash, black metal, and the idea is to do something like my favourite bands.

These are Maniac Butcher, Destroyer 666, Gospel of the Horns, Nocturnal, Nifelheim – all this black/thrash is what I want to do. So when we talk about thrash, you need to have some more skills on the guitar because you need to have some hell-fucking riffs, which, unfortunately, I don't have. I tried my best on the last album, so I told Luis to do whatever he wanted to.

When I put my lyrics on it, it will sound like Sardonic Witchery. But I never liked to copy a band, just to sound like Slayer. I don't think that it sounds 100% like Slayer. Sometimes it is a little bit Testament. The last album was something in between Manowar and Maniac Butcher – two completely different styles.

On this album, I tried not to sound like Sargeist, Darkthrone, or Satanic Warmaster, but I wanted to experiment a little bit and do some fucking metal with the true Satanic power of steel. It's the spirit of true metal, and I wanted to give that to the maniacs who listen to Sardonic Witchery.

What has changed in a remarkable way is the cover artwork. It is much more detailed and more mature than the previous ones. Who created it?

We worked with Jenglot Hitam from Indonesia. Before that, we worked with Leonard Selzer from Texas for the previous albums. He is a good artist, but for the new one he was very late, so I contacted Jenglot this time because I like his work.

He didn't have to create anything because he already had that one that I love (laughs). It had already been for sale for five or six years, and nobody had taken it. It's crazy.

I saw you for the first time at Under the Black Sun last year. Do you think you have gained some more popularity in Europe since that gig?

I think it was a very good opportunity to show ourselves in Europe. We had already played in many European countries in 2018, and now we came back for shows in Germany, Portugal, and Spain.

This time, most of the people didn't know us, and it was a good show, although it was not 666% of what we can really do. But we worked and improved with the other live shows, and I think we will be doing great at the upcoming shows.

We try to get on as many festivals as we can, but of course it is very hard to get opportunities because there are so many bands.

And coming back to Under the Black Sun, it was fantastic. Not just because we could play there, but also because of the amazing line-up that year. The people there were so nice. Everybody was friendly, and we definitely want to come back!

Coming back to your upcoming album, it is full of blasphemous song titles such as "Unholy Conqueror" or "Cult of a Thousand Horns." How important is the evil, satanic image for Sardonic Witchery?

It's about being a fucking crusher of shit religions, and this album is an old vision of thrash/black metal, a vision of darkness and blasphemy.

All the songs particularly talk about the same things: rebellion, freedom, power, the end of the world. I've been doing this for almost 30 years, and I don't want to do anything new, just take the old spirit of Satanic metal. I don't want anybody to tell me what to do or what my politics are or any shit like that. I think that's what metal means to me.

How is it possible to purchase your albums, and where will fans be able to buy the new album?

Well, we have always done things very underground. Sardonic Witchery already has more than 20 physical releases, including all five full-length albums, demos, splits, and other releases, all released through different underground labels from different territories.

For the new album, Hell's Thorns Attack, we are working with two labels in two different territories. In Europe, the CD and vinyl are being released through Firecum Records from Portugal. In North America, the CD, vinyl, and cassette are being released through Jems Label LLC.

The digital version is being released directly by the band through Ditto Music and will be available on all major streaming and digital platforms.

There are no exclusive agreements for these releases, which gives me the freedom to reissue the album wherever and whenever I want. I already have offers from other underground labels interested in releasing it in South America, Mexico, and Asia.

We also have physical releases available directly through our Bandcamp, so fans can always support the band directly there.

What about promoting the album live? Are there any touring plans for the rest of the year?

You actually asked this at the right moment because we were supposed to start a U.S. tour with Besatt in just two weeks. Unfortunately, we decided to cancel our participation.

With only two weeks left before the tour, our flights still hadn't been purchased, and the communication had become very poor. At that point, we simply couldn't continue relying on promises without having the basic arrangements confirmed, so we decided it was better for us to step away from the tour.

We will still be playing two dates in Mexico in October – Mexico City and León, Guanajuato – and after those shows, our live activity for 2026 will be finished.

Right now, we are already working on our plans and scheduling festivals for 2027. So if any festival promoters are interested in having Sardonic Witchery on their 2027 line-up, they can contact us directly at sardonicwitchery@hotmail.com.

Alright, last one – the five essential albums you would take with you to a deserted island?

Five wouldn't be enough, and honestly, I'd probably need a lot more than five albums to survive!

If I absolutely had to choose, my list would probably look something like this:

SLAYER — Show No Mercy / Hell Awaits / Reign in Blood
CELTIC FROST — Emperor's Return
JUDAS PRIEST — Painkiller
MANIAC BUTCHER — Barbarians / Lucan-Antichrist / Krvestreb / Černá Krev
DARKTHRONE — Soulside Journey
AZAGHAL — Mustamaa
GOSPEL OF THE HORNS — Realm of the Damned
SARDONIC WITCHERY — all five albums, because I really love listening to my own music!

The final words belong to you!

Thank you very much, Michael, for your support and for giving me the opportunity to talk about Sardonic Witchery with the readers of Metalbite Magazine. I really appreciate it, and I hope I can see you again soon so we can have some beers together!

To all the Metalbite Magazine readers: keep supporting the true underground metal bands. Buy physical releases, go to shows, discover new bands, and, most importantly, keep the underground alive!

Check out our new album, Hell's Thorns Attack, and keep supporting Sardonic Witchery!

Let's keep fighting for the underground!

AAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!