Glasgow doom cadre, Cwfen, have just shared their latest single, “Wolfsbane.” Dropping along with music video, it is taken from the band’s debut album, Sorrows, due out on the 30th of May, via tge New Heavy Sounds record label (Shooting Daggers, MWWB, Death Pill). Watch it below and find out more.
Stream “Wolfsbane” here: https://lnk.to/Cwfen_Wolfsbane
Pre-order Sorrows here:
https://cwfen.bandcamp.com/album/sorrows
Pre-save here: https://lnk.to/Cwfen_Sorrows
“We never set out to write an album. We were just four friends making music we wanted to hear. But then Sorrows emerged, and when it did, it pulled us into its orbit. We couldn’t ignore it,” says Agnes Alder, vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Cwfen. “When we stopped trying to fit into any one space, what came out was this beautiful mix of dark and light. Something visceral and cathartic.”
On new single “Wolfsbane,” Agnes adds,
“Wolfsbane” is the rock Cwfen was built on. I wrote it for us, before we’d even formed the band. I locked myself in the studio with my guitar, my bass and a blast-beat drum track, and it came out raw but pretty fully formed. Together we shaped it into what it is now. It’s the burn-everything-to-the-ground song, and when I sing it, I’m addressing every woman in the room. On the surface, it’s about poison. At its heart, it’s an ode to the untamed female rage that comes when the world tries to carve us into something smaller. It’s about the empowerment in that, and the strength we hold together. Given what’s going on in the world – reproductive rights gutted, LGBTQ+ lives weaponised, marginalised voices silenced – we need to remember how to be wild, and to find courage in that wildness. I hope it ignites a spark of defiance. It’s about what happens when enough is enough. The shifting mood. The anger. The unrest. There couldn’t be a better time to release it.”
There are two kinds of heavy bands: the ones that make a lot of noise and the ones that drag you somewhere you didn’t know you needed to go. Cwfen (pronounced ‘Coven’) are the latter, and Sorrows is a record that doesn’t just crush – it haunts long after the final note. The allure of Cwfen’s sound lies in contrasts: the glacial ferocity of Amenra, with the velvet-and-razor vocals of King Woman, and the rotting grandeur of Type O Negative. It’s as hypnotic as it is harrowing, but somehow even better than the sum of those parts. Since emerging from Glasgow’s underground just 18 months ago, Cwfen have built a solid reputation, selling out shows and pulling growing audiences into their doom-laden fever dream. Released in October, the band’s debut single “Reliks” was a hit with fans and critics, and rightly so. Their sound devours and delights in equal measure. And people are craving more.
Sorrows lives in the space around doom where the weight of the riffs is matched by the weight in your chest, where the lyrics and the songwriting are as important as the music itself. Loud and crushing, yet sharp enough to stick in your head for days. It builds, burns, collapses, resurrects. Big on riffs, bigger on feeling. The kind of songs you carry with you. Agnes Alder bears her claws one minute, then whispers the next, as the band follows like a storm front, rising, breaking, drowning you in the weight of it. The songs have range. From the guttural “Penance” to the lush “Whispers,” to the feral “Wolfsbane” and the insurrectionist “Rite.” It includes a long anticipated reworking of “Embers” and “Bodies,” the two self-recorded demos that launched them into the scene with a bang and that fans already adore. Intricate vocal arrangements, heavy and harsh guitars, a mix of atmosphere and heft, produced by the band alongside Kevin Hare at Deep Storm Productions, and mastered by James Plotkin. It punches above its weight for a debut.
Cwfen on stage is where the magic happens. They are primal. Leaping into the audience, a smear of black across her face, Agnes shifts effortlessly from guttural howls to soaring cleans, while the band roars. This is why word is spreading. And why people are showing up again and again. Supporting the likes of Dopethrone, Agriculture and Witching, and having already shared a festival bill with heavyweights like Deafheaven, Chat Pile, and Liturgy, they hold their own. This is a band that sits right in the boundaries between the heavy genres, pulling in everyone from the young goths and to the die-hard metalheads alike.
Upcoming shows including UK tour dates
March:
16 – Audio, Glasgow – supporting Dopethrone
April:
24 – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds – Strangeforms Festival
May:
21 – Audio, Glasgow – Supporting Castle Rat
22 – Legends, Edinburgh – Supporting Castle Rat
June:
13 – Glasgow, Hug & Pint w/ Faetooth
14 – Huddersfield, Northern Quarter w/ Faetooth
17 – London, The Black Heart w/ Faetooth
18 – Manchester, Star & Garter w/ Faetooth
19 – Norwich, Arts Centre w/ Faetooth
20 – Ramsgate, Music Hall w/ Faetooth
Tickets: https://linktr.ee/cwfen
02/08 – Cardross Estate, Stirling – Back Doune the Rabbit Hole Festival
Cwfen are:
Agnes Alder – Vocals, rhythm guitar
Guy DeNuit – Backing vocals, lead guitar
Rös Ranquinn – Drums
Mary Thomas Baker – Bass
Follow Cwfen:
https://linktr.ee/cwfen