Doom. Ominous, Gritty, and Dark. Those words and so many more come to mind when describing RVA’s space metal band Book of Wyrms.
Formed in August 2014, the band has been building a following in the local metal scene doing shows and and after a year of working on song material, released a demo in late June which you can find on Bandcamp and take a listen to below.
The demo which was engineered by Windhand’s Garrett Morris (Druglord, Battlemaster), is a 25-minute long piece of heavy metal, with some some 60s and 70s rock influences, along with some psychedelia and occult vibes thrown in. Yeah, so basically killer stuff in there.
Female lead singer Sarah-Moore Lindsey has combined her smooth, hypnotizing vocals over heavy bass and dark sound. Bassist Jay Lindsey, who is also Sarah’s husband, drummer Chris DeHaven, and guitarist Kelsey Miller make up the rest of Book of Wyrms. They all culminate together to bring this majestic, yet gritty and unique sound on the demo.
It’s only three tracks, but the songs are powerful both lyrically and musically. All of them have pretty long intros, very Metallica like, but in a good way. Nightbong is my favorite so definitely take a listen to that.
Each member of the group brings with them quite the diverse background in music. Sarah is a former member of Sematary. Her husband Jay used to be in thrash metal band Bearstorm and country group The Hotdamns, DeHaven came to the group from fellow metal bands Uproar and Dominium and Miller was also a member with Jay in Bearstorm and The Hotdamns.
Book of Wyrms draws influences from Black Sabbath, High on Fire, Hawkwind, Blood Ceremony, the Melvins, and dark Appalachian folk music. Lindsey said for the material the band draws on all sorts of concepts.
“We all are transfixed by science (and science fiction), fantasy, legends, history, the occult, the unknown, and all sorts of other vague topics,” she said. “Jay has been a metal fan since he was a kid, and among heavy music I bring to the table influences from the hippie and jazz scenes to the artistry of Radiohead and Smashing Pumpkins.”
And the band seems to have a pretty cool writing process to back up those concepts.
“Jay will usually come up with a bass-line that intrigues, and usually expands that into a song,” she said. “I will meditate on hearing his bassline at home. Then when we get to practice, Jay will show the riffs to Chris and he would pound out some insane percussion to go with it. So they will play that over and over, and I will come up with some words and an idea of a melody sometimes right then or sometimes when i’m driving down the highway. A lot of times Jay and I will become intrigued in a topic and I will build songs around that.”
Sarah met her husband Jay in 2006 when they both were working at Sound of Music Studios. They married in 2011 and wanted to start collaborating to put a band together. They basically put together Book of Wyrms with members of Jay’s bands.
“We met Chris through our good friend Michael Edwards, the vocalist in Jay’s other band, Bearstorm,” Lindsey said. “They had grown up together and Chris came out to a bunch of Bearstorm’s shows. We really hit it off and when Jay and I were thinking about starting a project, Chris was pretty much the first person we thought of.” “
“And then Kelsey played guitar on the demo and will play his final show with us July 30. He is also in Bearstorm and met Jay and me when he joined Jay’s country band, The Hotdamns.”
Ainsley Coudriet, Lindsey’s high school classmate, will take over Kelsey Miller’s role as guitarist and has already started playing with the band.
The space metal band’s first show was back in May at Strange Matter supporting the Druglords and a few other East Coast bands.
“It was probably the best first show experience anyone could have, because everything went great and everyone was so nice,” Lindsey said.
Book of Wyrms hopes to get a mini-tour going to get some exposure outside of the city.
“We are trying to play a few local shows and then get out of town to Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Baltimore, and Philly,” she said.
And Lindsey admitted that it has been hard breaking into the local scene, but there’s nothing else she’d rather be doing.
“Being in a band alone is a struggle against the world’s forces trying to break you up, and breaking into the scene is definitely an obstacle,” she said. “It’s like fighting an uphill battle sometimes, but I love what I’m doing more than anything I’ve ever done in my life, so I’m not stopping. Each scene has a reputation for being a little elitist, and perhaps the metal scene is the worst offender. But for every phony jackass you meet, there’s a genuine, down to earth real person who’s there too.”
As for being the only woman in a metal band and gaining respect in a male-dominated genre, Lindsey said it’s no longer a worry for her with her current band.
“In past projects sometimes my ideas weren’t given as much weight simply because I’m a woman and therefore, I must not really have much of worth to say,” she said. “Like it would be the kind of thing where I suggest something, no one says anything, and then a dude suggests the same thing and everyone is like “whoa that’s awesome!”
“My current band members respect me as a human individual and actually listen to my ideas. Sometimes they are good ideas, sometimes they are lame, just like dudes’. But I am stoked on being in a situation which allows me to feel free to speak up regardless of the outcome. I wish more women enjoyed this freedom.”
She did add that perhaps when they go on tour the biases would become more apparent, but she said she expects to be treated with the same respect she gives out.
The band plans to record some new songs they’ve been working on soon, but for now Lindsey said they’re just taking it one day at a time.
Catch Book of Wyrms at Emilios alongside Lycosa and The Ravenna Arsenal July 30 and at Wonderland Aug. 21.
