Vancouver’s hypnotic heavy metal band SPELL will unveil their new full-length, Wretched Heart, on May 1 through Bad Omen Records. A shadow-soaked descent into desperation, passion, and defiance, the album finds their gothic heavy metal into something more urgent and deeply human, cinematic in scope, nocturnal in spirit, and magnetic in execution.
Described by vocalist and bassist Cam Mesmer as a vehicle to make dreams manifest, “Music is magic, and Spell is a spell” , Wretched Heart stands as the band’s most commanding statement yet. Expanding on the mystique explored on 2022’s Tragic Magic, this new chapter amplifies both steel-forged aggression and emotional vulnerability, embracing paradox as its driving force.
The first single, “Lilac”, arguably Spell’s most immediate and bittersweet offering to date. The track balances harmony and heavy metal with synth-washed gothic textures. A guest guitar solo from Tom Draper, known for his work with Carcass and Angel Witch, joins in a searing melodic flourish into the song’s emotional arc. Lyrically, the lilac flower becomes a metaphor for fleeting beauty and the fragile nature of love and life itself, though Mesmer hints that the meaning runs deeper than the bloom suggests.
The accompanying video for Lilac”, directed by James Barry and Sean Edwards for Ramble Films, further enhances the track’s haunting atmosphere, blending elegance and melancholy into a visual echo of the album’s themes.
Across ten tracks, from the ominous surge of “Dark Inertia” to the climactic title track, Wretched Heart embodies a vital contradiction: anthems forged from cold steel yet pulsing with unmistakable humanity. Even the most skeptical listener may find themselves caught in Spell’s incantation, drawn into a world where heavy metal becomes both catharsis and communion.
Track listing:
- Dark Inertia
- Lilac
- Take My Life
- Unquiet Graces
- Oubliette
- Iron Teeth
- Exquisite Corpse
- Savage Scourge
- In Duress
- Wretched Heart
With Wretched Heart, Spell reaffirm that their craft is not merely performance, it is ritual.
Spell is Cam Mesmer (vocals, bass, rhythm guitar, synthesizers), Al Lester, (vocals, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, drums), Jeff Black (lead guitar, backing vocals), and Gabriel Tenebrae, (lead guitar, synthesizers).