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Tragic Magic

by SPELL

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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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      £7 GBP  or more

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    180gm vinyl pressing housed in 350gsm reverse card single sleeve cover with insert

    SHIPS FROM WITHIN THE EU (UNLESS ORDERED IN THE UK - WHERE ITEM WILL SHIP FROM ENGLAND)

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    Includes unlimited streaming of Tragic Magic via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 7 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      £17 GBP or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Compact Disc pressing housed in a 6-panel digipak with a layout realised by Annick Giroux of Temple of Mystery.

    SHIPS FROM WITHIN THE EU (UNLESS ORDERED IN THE UK - WHERE ITEM WILL SHIP FROM ENGLAND)

    SCROLL DOWN TO FIND VERSIONS SHIPPED FROM OUR DISTRIBUTION PARTNERS IN NORTH AMERICA

    Includes unlimited streaming of Tragic Magic via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 4 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      £9 GBP or more 

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Vinyl Features:
    + 180g Vinyl
    + Variant Options: Black, Black w/ Gold Splatter, Purple Inside Black, or Turquoise Marbled
    + Single Jacket
    + 2-Sided Insert
    + Limited Edition UK Import.

    **Item is Shipped from USA via USPS Media Mail - please allow extra time for delivery**

    Includes unlimited streaming of Tragic Magic via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $27 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    CD Features:

    + 6-Panel Digipak

    **Item is Shipped from USA via USPS Media Mail - please allow extra time for delivery**

    Includes unlimited streaming of Tragic Magic via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $15 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    CD Features:

    + 6-Panel Digipak

    **Item is Shipped via USPS Media Mail - please allow extra time for delivery**

    Includes unlimited streaming of Tragic Magic via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 14 days

      $13 USD or more 

     

  • Ltd Edition Ultra Clear Vinyl, T Shirt & Patch Bundle (Ships WORLDWIDE from UK & EU Shipping Hubs)
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    180gm ultra-clear vinyl housed in 350gsm reverse-card sleeve
    T Shirt (Gildan soft-style
    4" Patch

    LIMITED TO 100 UNITS WORLDWIDE

    SCROLL DOWN TO FIND NON- BUNDLE LP'S SHIPPED FROM OUR DISTRIBUTION PARTNERS IN NORTH AMERICA.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Tragic Magic via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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  • CD, T Shirt & Patch Bundle (Ships WORLDWIDE from UK & EU Shipping Hubs)
    Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Digipak CD pressing
    T Shirt (printed on Gildan Softstyle stock)
    4" X 4" Patch

    SHIPS FROM WITHIN THE EU (UNLESS ORDERED IN THE UK - WHERE ITEM WILL SHIP FROM ENGLAND)

    SCROLL DOWN TO FIND NON- BUNDLE CD'S SHIPPED FROM OUR DISTRIBUTION PARTNERS IN NORTH AMERICA.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Tragic Magic via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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  • 'Tragic Magic' Cassette Tape
    Cassette + Digital Album

    TRAGIC MAGIC is finally on cassette tape! Hand-numbered small run, strictly limited to 100 copies, by Ironbound Records. We only have 20 copies in total!!

    - Black transparent shell with screen printed logo
    - J-card 5 panel with slipcase (o-card)
    - Printed on 260gsm paper hi-quality
    - Lyrics included
    - Hand numbered
    - Bonus sticker

    Includes unlimited streaming of Tragic Magic via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    NOTE: Occasionally, these arrive with the plastic cases broken. If I wrapped them in bubble wrap it would cost 4x as much to ship them. So, as long as the tape still works, if there's just a simple crack in the cassette case, I can't be held responsible for that. Please order accordingly!

    Includes unlimited streaming of Tragic Magic via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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1.
Fatal Breath 03:52
Years drift before your ancient eyes Within you the past is still alive Each breath is an eroding tide Every hour your world is left behind Before the silence Speak to me while your time is left Don’t let the chain be broken when you take your fatal breath We’ll pass so quickly in the dark As each flies towards a separate mark One breath and I’m again alone Wandering within this great unknown
2.
Oh, vast cathedral of the sky Tall narrow windows arching high Oh, violet lightening’s jagged rays All tempered to a lilac haze Fractured colours stain the sky Invisible unto my eye Ultraviolet Focus your celestial eye on me Ultraviolet And I’ll stare into it willingly Oh, loose the heaven’s radiant force All unknown colours at their source Oh, let me see your cryptic light To burn away my final sight Burn your way into my mind Take my eyes and make me blind
3.
I’m awake To the memories that surely time will take Come and know me now and look into my eyes And in this final moment say goodbye Oh, lay me down Deep into the ocean where I’ll sink and not be found Oh, let me drown My mind is slowly rusting So let me take my place In Hades cold embrace She is here To cut away my memories year by year By this mocking twin of youth I am undone And once again a child I have become
4.
My hands seeking in – darkness reach Open mouth dripping – hair and teeth Breath of rot and a – sickness sweet Oh, come and take me down into the deep Things aren’t as they seem You’re in a fever dream So give yourself to me To find out what I mean Stumbling steps down a – spiral stair Pistons hiss as steam – fills the air Gasping furnace turns – gnashing gears Mechanical I’m lurching ever near
5.
Sarcophagus 03:42
A symbol of wonder and fear To transform the body to something unclear A slab of immovable stone But inside are left only bones In longing for infinite days To witness and be known by eternal ways The tragedy seen on your face Will know me as soon as I’ve met your embrace I’m just a captor of your spell I’ve seen your face a thousand times But I can’t know you well You live inside my dreams Within an unseen eye Where you’ve been watching me Sarcophagus remains Sarcophagus awaits Until the final day Sarcophagus awaits Within her gilded gold eyes She shows you a vision of your own demise Inside a bottomless vase Beneath the endless glass waves Deep in desperate dream But motionless now and forever it seems You’re always an object of fear Never a promise that solace is near
6.
The night is falling over me The winter’s dawning beautifully Oh, you’ve come too late My lips are frozen I can’t wait …but it was only fantasy And now the future’s lost to me The moon is waning every day My youth is fading suddenly Oh, let me pretend That my hour is not at it’s end
7.
Lost as a fallen tree An ancient city rots Under an endless sea Of tangled ivy knots Mighty roots will slowly pull each archway down As vines remain securely bound I’ll be waiting as branches grow out from my eyes I’ll be watching as night wears her heavy disguise I’ll be listening as stories are whispered in rhyme And I’ll speak when my voice is known only to time As stifled marble halls No longer ring with sound And yawning towers sink With secrets never found Stone foundations rest so deep within the earth As roots much deeper still give birth
8.
They lay enshrined in their velvet halls Holding court beneath us all Lying in their lavish graves They play chess to decide our fates Cenotaphs that bear their names Cast mocking shadows upon my face Evil tongues a snare will set Their greatest curses are unfolding yet Caught in a web as helpless prey (Souls in chains) Indentured souls who page their way (Souls in chains) In a gallows game, we’re just souls chains For long beyond their earthly time Their hatred and their greed unwind They’re laughing in their scornful ways As they watch the earth decay Someday at last the end will come Even the greatest force will be undone And though you hold the sceptre now Silence will claim your resting ground
9.
I wandered through the forest deep On an island alone with my dreams Ancient paths led me through the trees And as I heard the branches speak With the whispered conspiring of leaves A melody found me on the breeze And as the red arbutus watch over the sea And the waves I hear them calling out to me This is where I’ll always be My feet soon left the guiding trail Following this eerie song As though it was driving me along I scrambled down a river bank Pushing through thick ivy walls Emerging as night began to fall The music reached an apex And rang out in my ears I looked to find the players But no-one did appear Rings surround my arching bones At last I can perceive That I am red with peeling bark And bright arbutus leaves
10.
The Watching 02:46

about

Arriving directly from a zone between dream and waking, the fourth album from Spell is here to weave its potent magick. Established as intrepid pathfinders on the journey of classic Heavy Metal into the mystic, Tragic Magic sees the Vancouver outfit honing their approach to seductive effect.

The turbulent two-year period following their triumphant third album Opulent Decay has steeled the resolve of a band who always operated according to their own co-ordinates: “These strange times have encouraged us to look up from the doldrums of our daily lives and reflect more critically on what we’re doing and why,” reckons Cam Mesmer. “For us, this involved stripping away a lot of bullshit to reach a more essential, distilled and purer version of what Spell is.”

This also involved the band becoming a duo for the process. Tragic Magic was written and recorded entirely as a collaboration between brothers Cam and Al (Lester). “And we couldn’t be happier about the result,” says Cam. “The identity of Spell came into sharp focus as it was always intended to be.”

This becomes clear when confronting Tragic Magic; the songcraft here is steeped in the atmosphere of the arcane, yet the hooks are more razor-sharp than ever as ten occult-tinged anthems seamlessly marry majestic bombast and otherworldly allure with gritty resonance.

Whilst influences like the esoteric charge of Blue Öyster Cult and the elemental expansions of Camel and King Crimson are wont to drift through these crepuscular melodies, Spell are as likely to be influenced by the life-affirming energy of ‘60s Motown as the ethereal dimensions of Cocteau Twins, or the strident woe of Candlemass and classic songwriting chops of Russ Ballard. 

Lyrically, the band also moves into different dimensions. “The themes on this album are more concrete, guided by personal experience,” reflects Cam. “Tragic Magic has to do with mental illness, ageing, the death of a loved one, the decay of time... this is what ‘tragic magic’ means to us – loss and tragedy outside of our control, which fundamentally alters our perceived reality”

Indeed, whilst the approach of this band has looked towards the escapist in the past, Tragic Magic sees them doggedly confronting bleaker forces in search of transcendence. “Life has gotten harder and less hospitable for many people lately, so it didn’t seem appropriate to flaunt excess,” notes Cam. “This album is our response to the world as it currently is: music for an ascetic age.”

More than ever, this unearthly brew sounds like no one else but Spell — gnostic rock warriors transposing their dark arts fearlessly and alchemically into the light. “Music is magic, and Spell is a spell. Fundamentally, it is a forum to make our dreams come true”

credits

released October 28, 2022

SPELL is:

Cam Mesmer: vocals, bass, rhythm guitar
Al Lester: vocals, drums, lead guitar

Recorded between November 2021 and March 2022 at Little Red Sounds, New Westminster BC
Produced by Felix Fung
Mastered by Greg Mindorff at Suite Sound Labs
Cover art: Frenzy of Exultations by Władysław Podkowiński, 1863
Layout by Annick Giroux
Photography by David P. Ball
Logo by Sean Coggins

All songs written and performed by SPELL

Additional musicians:

Gabriel B: synthesizers
Ian Chains: guitar solo on A Ruined Garden
Jeff Black: piano on A Ruined Garden
Max Sample: piano on Watcher of the Seas & additional vocals
Rachel Layne: additional vocals
Rob Hamilton: horns and ambience
Felix Fung: additional percussion & backing vocals

Thank you to our family, friends and supporters for making this record possible.
If you like our music, start a heavy metal band!

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SPELL Vancouver, British Columbia

HYPNOTIC HEAVY METAL

Cam Mesmer — bass/vocals/guitar

Al Lester — drums/vocals/guitar

Gabriel B — synth/guitar

Jeff Black — guitar

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