Rites Of Hadda – Occult Sex Worker

Behold! The Rites Of Hadda have risen once more with their new full length, Occult Sex Worker, that is out now via Grow Your Own Records. Anyone who has caught this truly unique outfit live, or encountered their previous albums, 2018’s Witchpunk and 2020’s The Horned God, will be aware that the sax, drag and rock ’n roll that they describe as “anarcho-pagan-gothic-psychedelic-queer-Witchpunk” is never going to fit into any convenient pigeonhole, it’s more likely that they are carving their own, almost certainly in exactly the wrong place, possibly in a parallell dimension. This is a band that does not make concessions on any level, they are wrong on every level, but as we all know, this is an approach that often produces something that is so very right!

The frantic opening strains of Despondency indicate that this extraordinary outfit have reverted to a more familiar short sharp punk stab, but anyone who has ever caught their unique live shows knows that this will not be the case, this was just an introductory comforting stab of the relatively familiar. Their true colours are revealed on the second bite with the borderline epic Attempted Murder, a story told amidst chugging riffs and wailing saxophone. Predictably, or should that be unpredictably, the album heads off on another tangent with the autobiographical space rock that is Queer Fool, that is in turn followed by a brief spacey interlude of A Glimpse Of Fate. No prizes for guessing that the next cut, They Let You Down, heads off down another rabbit hole, the forlorn sax and tentative bass overlaid with spoken word doesn’t prepare you for the sudden shift into full blooded punk rock and then back into relative calm a la Dead Kennedy’s We’ve Got A Bigger Problem Now.

A further brief interlude, An Eldritch Calls, precedes Sex Worker Of The Pandemic which is the closest you’re going to get to a commercial single as it’s full tilt on all fronts for a frenetic 151 seconds. The slightly sinister psychedelic overtones of Nine Of Swords steer you once more down a different path, one where you meet the earliest days of Hawkwind coming in the opposite direction. Final Fling, which of course isn’t the album’s final fling, returns to the frantic sax, drag and rock ’n roll, did I say sax, this one is more sex than sax! Appropriately they have saved Death Cart for last, its steady slow chug is accompanied by wailing sax and has otherworldly undertones abounding before it brings the album to a close in a slightly unsettling spacey style.

It has to be said that Rites Of Hadda are not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, and might make you question what exactly is in the tea! They are making music they want to make, their are no fucks given and if you’re along for the ride they’ll always be glad to have you along. To truly make sense of this utterly unique outfit their live spectacle should be experienced, but this is not always possible and for those poor souls Occult Sex Worker provides a taste of their unique brew. If you are someone who seeks those bands who dwell in their own unique space in the punk scene, then introduce yourself to Rites Of Hadda’s own unique world, bring your own mind altering substances and enjoy the ride.