In 2024, metal’s relationship to the blues seems quaint. Or maybe nonexistent. Thrash and everything that came after put the nail in that coffin. But you can’t really admire, for instance, Black Sabbath’s early catalog without accepting that, yeah, the blues were there all right. So metal may have moved on, but Austin, Texas, quartet Heavy Velvet have an inkling that there are some branches of metal’s gnarled family tree where the blues still exist and are relevant. The band’s latest single, “The Itch” imagines what Janis Joplin fronting Led Zeppelin may have wrought. It’s buzzing with David Kent’s potent riffs and a paint-peeling performance from vocalist, Erika Leigh. And yeah, there’s bluesy groove to the retro doom that’s undeniable
“The Itch” is the latest single from Heavy Velvet’s upcoming self-released Scarlet, that is set to be issued on November 15. You can place your preorders here.
This is what vocalist Erika Leigh had to say about the track:
“‘The Itch’ is about not being able to let go of the one thing that’s killing you. The itch is the feeling of discomfort in the realization of the insanity in holding onto it, and knowing the destruction it breeds.”
