Witch Fever return with a vengeance, ushering in a bold new era with their second full-length album, FEVEREATEN, set for release on 31 October 2025 via Music For Nations / Sony. The Manchester four-piece once again assert their place at the forefront of genre-defying alt-rock, fusing doom-laden atmospheres with punk ferocity to create a sound that’s as hard-hitting as it is haunting. Renowned for their unflinching honesty, Witch Fever delve even deeper into themes of trauma, mental health, and the reclamation of power—approaching each with fearless intensity.
Content Warning: The following interview includes open discussions of trauma and mental health. Reader discretion is advised.
In light of this, we sat down with singer and lyricist Amy Walpole to talk about the raw emotions behind FEVEREATEN, navigating pain through music, and what power looks like when reclaimed on your own terms.
Welcome to Witch Fever
Hi Amy, welcome to Femme Metal Webzine. First of all, I want to thank you for accepting the interview today. Secondly, I wanted to ask you—how are you, and how is this period going with all the promotion and the craziness?
Yeah, I’m pretty good, thank you. We’re gearing up to go on tour for two months. We leave next week, so we’re in planning mode now because it’s so close.
We’re just trying to tie up lots of loose ends before we head out—getting last-minute gear, all that sort of stuff. It’s been quite chaotic, but yeah, it’s good. It’s been great.
Witch Fever and FEVEREATEN
You know, I managed to find some time here and there between work and everything else to listen to FEVEREATEN. First of all, congratulations—it’s a fantastic piece of work. Secondly, just a quick question: when did you—or better yet, when did all of you—realize, “This is it, we’ve got the right material,” and decide it was time to move on to the recording phase??
Well, we weren’t rushed, but then it got to the point where we were like, “Right, well, we need to be getting into the studio now if we want it released by a certain point.”
It did take us quite a long time to write it, actually. It must have been a couple of years that we were writing, because we obviously toured throughout as well. Furthermore, it is difficult, because we’ve never taken time out of touring to write. So we just get it in when we can, basically.
And then yeah, we had the dates booked for recording, and then we were working towards that eventually, and then we just pushed to that. But yeah, we never want to force it or write something our hearts aren’t in. We don’t want to rush it, so that’s why it’s taken quite a long time.
Amy from WITCH FEVER: “I’ve felt this urge to share.”
FEVEREATEN explores the horror in the subtleties of trauma, mental health struggles, and relationships—it’s a bold album. How did you personally cope with all of that? We often process experiences privately, but sharing them publicly through music is another step. How did you handle making something so personal so exposed?
It is—it can be difficult sometimes. As much as it’s mine to share everything, and for things to be—certain things to be out in the public, it’s difficult. Because like, I don’t know how much people know about me without me having told them myself.
So sometimes that’s a little jarring—especially like, sometimes I’ll go on a date and they already know bits about me that are quite personal, that I’ve shared in an interview, and I haven’t told them myself. And that feels a bit weird [laughs].
But the thing is, I’ve not been forced to do any of it. All of it has happened because I’ve felt this urge to share, and this urge to write about it, and the urge to discuss it on stage and on interviews.
Why it is important to speak about it?
One, because I find it cathartic to make work about it and to speak about it. But also, because as a subject of religious trauma is not really spoken about that much. It seems, to a lot of people, like it’s quite a niche topic. But whenever I speak about it, I always get people like, “Oh my god, I’ve been through the same thing.”
And especially in the UK, we see so much about a lot of how abuse of power in churches as like in America. Given that, I don’t think that people quite understand how prevalent it is also in the UK too. Especially with charismatic churches, evangelical churches. They kind of fly under the radar because our country, is not really a Christian country the way America is. We don’t have one sole faith the way America does.
Always speak it
Yeah. And also, all the imagery and the iconography and all of that—it just fit with heavy music anyway. So it just works. It just fits.
Also, I just want to say thank you for speaking about mental health. That really matters. I’m a survivor myself, and I try to support others personally. So when you’re in that dark place, it really helps to know you’re not alone. Whatever your own experience has been, I’m genuinely grateful for the time and dedication you put into talking about it on FEVEREATEN
Yeah. Well, thank you. I mean, I’m glad that you feel that way and that we’re able to talk about it, yeah.
Amy from Witch Fever: “It was quite dark, but now it’s lighter.”
In one of the last interviews I read, you mentioned, ‘It was quite dark, but now it’s lighter.‘ Do you feel like you’ve learned from everything you’ve been through? Do you feel lighter now, as if it’s something you’ve actively worked through?
I think the more I write about it, the more I have a better understanding of myself and how my brain works. And then these songs—we obviously play them again and again and again and again. So we write them, we practice them over and over again. And then in the studio, when we’re recording them, we’re doing it again and again and again. It’s a very repetitive process.
And then we take them to stage, and it is the same thing over and over. And it can feel like a bit like you are working through the emotion every time you’re doing it. However, it gets to a point where then it gets to a point—like with Congregation or some of our earlier stuff—the subject matters that I’m talking about in those specific songs, I’ve really worked through it, and I feel like I’m in a very different place now. Now when I’m singing those songs, it doesn’t feel as sharp, intense or on top of me.
Feeling (controlled) vulnerable
Do you ever feel vulnerable, performing these songs again and again—songs that come from such personal, often painful places? I imagine that can be one of the more difficult aspects of your work. So I want to ask, with genuine respect—because I understand how deeply this is woven into your art—doesn’t it sometimes leave you feeling exposed, especially when fans approach you saying, ‘I’m going through the same thing’?
Yeah, no, I understand. I enjoy the vulnerability. I enjoy feeling like I’m leaving everything on the stage. Not only that, but I find that cathartic. There are things—there are a lot of things—that I also don’t say and don’t share. I’m not, like, a completely open book. I would never go on an interview and share diagnoses and every single bit of trauma I’ve been through.
Yeah, —all that stuff. So there is a lot of myself that I managed to keep private. But the bits I choose to share—yeah, I enjoy the vulnerability. And that’s why I often, as well, on stage—I’m just in like wearing little clothing. With that, I feel like I’m pushing that vulnerability, and feeling like I’m releasing everything, basically.
The video singles for Witch Fever
So, you know, I also love the videos. There are now three singles out—Fever Eaten, The Garden, and They Like Me They Like Me. They’re all quite horror-ish. They are amazing. There are so many layers—for me, they’re not simply video clips, there’s a whole story behind them. So, I want to ask you—how was shooting them all? Because they look quite demanding to film them.
We did Fever Eaten and The Garden on the same day—we filmed it all in one day. It was like a 12-hour day. And it was all in one day, and it was so exhausting. It’s a lot of fun. But it is really tiring—changing in and out of different clothes the whole day.
And especially for me, as well—like the process of repetition that I’ve explained before. I’m performing my own lyrics again and again. When you’re doing that for a really long day, that can get very emotionally draining. And it was a big set. It was a big crew—so many people knocking about, it’s very loud, it’s very chaotic. A lot going on. It’s very overstimulating. For that reason, I couldn’t do it every day. But it’s worth it. It’s good. It’s a lot of fun.
Witch Fever playing with Bush and Volbeat
You mentioned at the beginning of our interview that Witch Fever is gearing up for a massive upcoming tour across Europe, joining forces with Bush and Volbeat. This time, you’re stepping into the big leagues—playing major arenas. I know, for example, that here in Rotterdam you’ll be performing at Ahoy, which is huge. So I’d love to ask: What are you most looking forward to about this tour? You’ve already had a strong run of festivals, but now you’re making a leap—almost literally—into the unknown of large-scale arena shows. It’s a big step. How are you feeling about bridging that gap?
Yeah, there’s going to be a lot of new stuff. It’s the longest we’ll have ever toured for, the longest period of time. We’re on a tour bus—we’ve never done that before. And we have played a stadium once, but that was about three years ago. We’ve not played a similar size since.
So back-to-back nights of arenas is going to be pretty crazy, but I’m just so excited to be honest. It’s going to be a completely luxurious experience comparing to the past 10 years of our career. So yeah, I’m just really excited, to be honest. I think the first week is probably going to be difficult—getting into the routine. And yeah, I’m excited about the catering [laughs].
So, Amy, I really wanted to thank you again for your time, your availability. Thank you for replying to my questions.
Thank you so much.