1. Vagina Witchcraft - Vagina Witchcraft
2. Amos the Kid - No New Ideas
3. Virgo Rising - Sixteenth Saphire

The self-titled, six-song debut album by local band Vagina Witchcraft landed the group on the 2021 Polaris Music Prize long-list – and earned them a Western Canadian Music Award for Metal and Hard Music Artist of the Year.

Vagina Witchcraft, comprised of Kayla Fernandes, Dylan Sellar, Seppel Bruyere and Julien Riel, is often described as mixing elements of doom, metal, hardcore and punk.

Responding to The Uniter via email, the band describes their album as “a journey through hardships, trauma and the deepest, darkest thoughts of the human psyche. A heart-wrenching anguish and a celebration of anger. A fierce stand against oppression and intolerance and a path to radical self-acceptance. Heavy, noisy and hopeful.”

They chose the band name Vagina Witchcraft because it was Fernandes’ Instagram handle.

“We chose it because it grabbed people's attention, as well as showcased the power and destigmatization of words and the bodies that accompany them that may be seen as vulgar in today’s society,” they say.

The band started in the basement of Fernandes’ and Sellar’s house. After seeing them play at Manitoba Metal Fest in 2018, Mike Peters of Cancer Bats invited them to play a bill. They were joined by Bruyere and Riel, who played with Sellar’s previous band.

What was originally intended to be an EP turned into a full-length album. Recorded at the UMFM live room with David Dobbs, the album is a collection of songs based on Fernandes’ and Sellar’s basement days, riffs that have been in their heads for a while (including a few that were written collaboratively combined with Fernandes’ poetry) and new material inspired by the music.

“It’s been three years now, and we couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve accomplished and the fact that our peers in the community appreciate the body of work that we’ve created,” they say.

Published in Volume 76, Number 12 of The Uniter (December 2, 2021)