History & Biography Phoenix has many Butchers, but most work for corporate supermarket chains delivering bloody carcasses of beasts. This Butcher... does the same, but musically. Formed in 1990, Butcher issued a demo called Iron Tiger in 1996 before disappearing, but not forever. The band was formed out of the ashes of Coven (which existed since 1982) and Storm (the follow-up to Coven in 1988) when many line-up changes necessitated a change of names. With Lil Tang onboard, the band recruited Iceberg guitarist Cris Jackson and drummer Gary Vertrees. The group recorded a demo, Iron Tiger, which was issued in May of 1996. During the next several years, the band worked on a new recording that came to an abrupt stop with the death of Cris Jackson in a motorcycle accident. The band resumed recording in February of 2008 only to stop in November when StoneAge suffered a stroke. Drummer Gary Sheehan left in 2010 and was replaced by Zakk Reitgarde. France’s Inferno Records issued the band’s album in November of 2010. The disc featured Coven guitarists Twisted and Jon Napper. C.T. Fritts joined in late 2010. The band began writing for a new album. StoneAge and Fritts resurrected Coven in 2011 when singer Roy Anschutz reappeared. The group closed shop in 2013.
Reviews BUTCHER - WELCOME TO THE NIGHT - INFERNO 
This type of metal is the stuff that most real metal maidens dream of. Loud, pounding, screeching and squealing real authentic metal it is. Welcome To The Night, one could guess from the name, is heavy metal as it was meant to be with anthemic fist banging chords and real riffs. The vocalist is one dangerous looking mean lady called Lil Tang who has to be Whisper Lilith’s sister! She goes from hoarse to sweet and innocent on the album and has a lot of help from the male vocals. The rest of the band look like washed up bikers and look their age. Butcher, after all, is an older band that is back.
So, why the average grade? Intros, outros, interludes, static and other ingredients of a concept album constantly interrupt the music. Not sure, what it is exactly, but the concept sounds like a nightmare society caught in a vortex of nuclear armageddon and chaotic culture. Whatever it is, the whole thing keeps getting its flow disrupted. Funny also that the album keeps referencing the band itself and its predecessor Coven. Halloween has the same riff as Pretty Maids’ Fantasy according to someone here at Metallian Towers. The title track rips off the song Number Of The Beast for some reason. Too bad. Songs like The Dark and King Of The Hill knock the metal socks off. Sounds like Welcome to The Night is better experienced live in a sweaty club full of bangers - if the band leaves out its concept and samples. - Anna Tergel
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