| Hammer of the Witches | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Cradle of Filth |
| Cover: | Hammer_of_witches.jpg |
| Released: | 10 July 2015 |
| Recorded: | November 2014 – May 2015[1] |
| Studio: | Grindstone Studios (Suffolk, England) |
| Genre: | Extreme metal |
| Length: | 56:11 68:47 (Deluxe edition) |
| Label: | Nuclear Blast |
| Producer: | Scott Atkins |
| Prev Title: | The Manticore and Other Horrors |
| Prev Year: | 2012 |
| Next Title: | Cryptoriana – The Seductiveness of Decay |
| Next Year: | 2017 |
Hammer of the Witches is the eleventh studio album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. It was released on 10 July 2015 and is their first release under record label Nuclear Blast. Hammer of the Witches features the band's new line-up following the departure of Paul Allender and James McIlroy, which includes new guitarists Marek 'Ashok' Šmerda and Richard Shaw and new keyboardist and female vocalist Lindsay Schoolcraft.
Hammer of the Witches is the first Cradle of Filth album since 1998's Cruelty and the Beast to not feature work from longtime guitarist Paul Allender. Work on the album began in early 2014, with frontman Dani emphasizing that the band planned on taking their time with it.[2] In an interview in 2016, Lindsay Schoolcraft stated that she was pleased with the fan-response and that the band had actually finished work on the album quicker than they had expected to.[3]
Vocalist Dani Filth stated: "The artwork for Hammer of the Witches was created by Latvian artist Arthur Berzinsh and is a lavish walk-through of the lyricism, drawing on rich renaissance themes and displaying them in beautiful-yet-unsettling scenarios. Half of the detailed pieces are totally original for the release, others are Berzinsh classics cunningly tailored to the themes of the album, which are themes rife with heady witchcraft, be it persecution, retribution or unfettered spiritual liberation. The female form is rampant throughout the artwork, unashamedly displayed in its classical rendition of beauty... and horror."
The first single and video for the track "Right Wing of the Garden Triptych" was released on 14 May 2015.[4] [5] [6] Hammer of the Witches was released on 10 July.