The hardest part in putting together a newsletter is trying to figure out
where to start. I suppose I should start by dispelling the rumor that Blood
Coven has broken up. BLOOD COVEN IS STILL HERE! Drummer Mike Oehmen had to
leave due to financial responsibilities but is playing with a band in his
home town Chicago, Ill-noize. Be sure to check them out at Veneficum.com.
Not long after Mikes departure, guitarist Dave Ingram left the band and later
joined local doom rockers "Somnus". Faced with the ever challenging task of
finding new members, Dann decided to take a few months vacation from Blood
Coven. During his sabbatical, he crossed paths with bassist Raphael Greaves
who soon after became an official member of the band. The two of them worked
for a while on some new material and ideas. Raphael then introduced Vocalist
Justin Lightfoot to the band. Justin originally auditioned as a drummer, but
he felt that his friend Ryan Arter would be a better suited drummer for Blood
Coven's music style. They decided to keep Justin on vocals and bring in Ryan
on drums. Once again Blood Coven became a living entity. They are still
searching for a second guitar player, so if you have any interest, or know
anyone who desires to audition, please contact us. The usual contact
information will be at the end of this mailer.
Blood Coven has been working reverently on new material, as well as the old
of course. We intend to be giving out promo cassettes at the Ohio Death Fest
at the The Flying Machine in Lorain, Ohio on April 21st and 22nd. As always,
we do have other merchandise for the masses. Full color short sleeved
T-shirts are still available for $15, Blood Coven's first Full Length CD
"Ashes of an Autumn Burning" for $10 and the 7" vinyl disc in black or red
vinyl entitled "True Fucking Metal"for $3.
You can also find them on several Tribute albums produced by Dwell Records.
Keep an eye out for Hell Rules - Black Sabbath, Red Star -Rush, Dead Forever
- Motorhead, Kiss of Death - Kiss, and soon to be released Judas Priest Vol II,
Slayer Vol II and Sodom tributes, at your local record store or through us directly.
As I am sure you all know, times are hard and costs are high. It is time
again to update everyone's information. If you wish to stay on Blood Coven's
mailing list, please RSVP by ANY of the contacts listed below. If we do not
hear from you we will have to take you off the list. We also want to make
sure that we have everyone's current address as some (if not many) of you
have moved. Don't be afraid to call and leave a phone message, that's what
the machine's there for.
I believe that is all I have to report for now, and as always, thank you for
your continued support.
Eternally in the shadows,
The Undead Dark Goddess
After the departure of Brandy "Chuck" Smith in April of '96, we were once again facing the task of filling the bass guitar position. Our ads brought a lot of reponse but finding the right person was very difficult. This did not deter us from entering Dimm Studios, however, to record "I AM MORTALITY" for Epitaph Magazine's "NO FRILLS VOL. II" sampler CD. Once again, the bass guitar chores were covered by Dann.
We also continued to play live throughout the summer including our first times in Toledo & Bowling Green, and a show opening for Carnivore here in Cleveland.
In October of '96 we were joined by Jason Woolard [ex-Hate Theory] on base guitar. He had seen the band live once, and had helped with some engineering at Dimm. He learned five of our songs in one week, played a small club show with us on October 27th, and then played in front of over 800 people at the Cleveland Agora only five days later! We've been going strong ever since. Jason truly fits the persona of the band and his playing and writing style melds perfectly with the sound that is BLOODCOVEN.
1997 has been a very eventful year thus far as well. We've played many shows, travelling out-of-state to Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Wisconsin, while maintaining a steady presence here in the Akron/Cleveland scene. The high points were opening for national bands Cannibal Corpse, My Dying Bride, and Malevolent Creation, and a slot on the second annual World Series of Metal. We are also scheduled to play the upcoming Michigan Deathfest.
Finally, I'd like to mention our forthcoming full-length CD entitled Ashes of Autumn Burning. Once again, we have returned to Dimm Records where we have been busy recording the basic tracks for the eight songs to appear on the new album. After some finishing touches on the recordings and mix, we'll be sending it out to press-- and hope to have it ready for release in the fall. In the meantime, we are constantly adding live shows to our schedule, and are planning some future projects involving special releases.
That's about all for now, as if it weren't enough. Thank you for taking the time to check us out whether it be a live show, our previous recordings, on the internet, or even just by reading our fliers. We hope to see you all soon at one of our shows. Until then, keep in touch at any of our addresses, or email our webmaster [he'll be sure to pass the praise along to the band]. Until we see you, remember to
