Biography

Ruby the Hatchet brings together doomy, evil hard rock with occult-flavored psychedelia for a witchy brew of dazzled and ominous cosmic rock sounds. The band's talent for sinister riffs, heavy drums, and organ-flecked rockers grew more refined on albums like 2017's Planetary Space Child or their epic 2022 album, Fear Is a Cruel Master. Ruby the Hatchet formed after a series of basement practices in New Jersey circa 2011 before relocating to Philadelphia. The band featured guitarist Johnny Scarps, drummer Owen Stewart, bassist Mike Parise, and keyboard player Sean Hur, and was trademarked by the howling, dynamic vocals of Jillian Taylor. In addition to constant gigging, the band had a prolific recording schedule as well, releasing a self-titled EP in 2011 and their debut full-length, Ouroboros, the next year. In 2014, they released several versions of a single entitled "The Eliminator," including a limited-edition release packaged in a wooden box filled with random ephemera. All of this made way for the band's 2015 effort Valley of the Snake, a deeper dive into the band's increasingly gritty stoner rock-influenced sound. Two years later, they delivered third album Planetary Space Child on Teepee Records. Their fourth long-player, Fear Is a Cruel Master, materialized in 2022 and found the band even more energized and powerful, with production values that were crisper and arrangements that were more complex than anything they'd attempted before. ~ Fred Thomas, Rovi