CWFEN ANNOUNCE TWO RELEASES TO MARK THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THEIR DEBUT ALBUM, SORROWS
A SPECIAL VINYL REPRESS ON NEON VIOLET VINYL, AND DIGITAL SORROWS 'DELUXE EDITION', FEATURING BLISTERING LIVE TRACKS, EARLY DEMOS AND EERIE SONIC EXPERIMENTS. LEAD TRACK 'WHISPERS (LIVE IN BELFAST 2026)' DROPS TODAY.
A Must-Hear for Fans of Chelsea Wolfe, King Woman, Killing Joke, Sisters of Mercy
What happens when the release of a band's debut exceeds their wildest dreams of what's possible? 12 months ago, Cwfen (pronounced 'Coven') released their first album, Sorrows, which emerged from attempts to demo some material at a friend's studio in a remote Scottish farmhouse. The results received instant and widespread acclaim, enjoying glowing reviews in the heavy music press (Metal Hammer, Kerrang!) and featuring in album of the year lists at the close of 2025.
Fast forward 12 months and the band have toured extensively with Paradise Lost and Faetooth, and played countless festival stages, crushing audiences and gaining new fans with consistently powerful performances of the Sorrows material.
To mark the first anniversary of the release of their debut, and the whirlwind 12 months that have passed since, the band are making two special releases of the album available for the first time. The first is a digital deluxe edition of 'Sorrows', which presents the original tracklist alongside more than 40 minutes of previously unheard music, including blistering live tracks from their early shows and recent touring, early demos of key songs, and eerie sonic experiments composed during the making of the album. The second new release is a special 3rd edition vinyl repress of Sorrows on neon violet vinyl, limited to 300 copies.
Fresh from a performance this week at Download Festival, the band are excited to share these releases, as they look ahead to a summer of festival performances across Europe, and then to beginning the process of preparing album number two.
Mary Thomas Baker said:
"The process of making 'Sorrows' involved fully inhabiting the songs while recording and performing, as well as group processes of deep listening, field recording, and experimental sound design. All of these is represented and extended on the deluxe edition, which includes everything from high energy live versions and song demos, to grimy dictaphone recordings of early practices, and manipulated field recordings we captured in the eerie surroundings of Deep Storm Studios. We are excited to release this material, which gives an insight into the past, present and future of the band, for the first time."
Speaking about the live recordings, Guy de Nuit says:
"We've recorded as many gigs as possible since we started, so we wanted to share some of these. The two live tracks are Bodies from our second ever show in 2023 at Glasgow's Core Festival, and Whispers from March this year in Belfast, on tour with Paradise Lost. We loved hearing the difference three years made, and thought others would too. We have always been a band that prioritises our live show, and we think these capture that journey.”
Listen to ‘Whispers (Live in Belfast 2026)’ - https://cargo-independent.ffm.to/skl6nyg285 / https://cwfen.bandcamp.com/track/whispers-live-in-belfast-2026-2
Both versions are released on 19th June via New Heavy Sounds.
Pre-order deluxe edition now:
Forthcoming shows:
Sat 6th July - Resurrection Fest, Galacia, Spain
Sun 16th Aug - Dynamo Metalfest, Eindhoven, Netherlands
Sun 15th Nov - Core Festival, Glasgow, Scotland
Follow online: https://linktr.ee/cwfen