The 10th anniversary of Otep‘s sixth studio album “Hydra” will be celebrated this year with its first-ever vinyl pressing. Craft Recordings will be putting out that pressing on October 06th. Otep Shamaya herself oversaw the the design of this new reissue, which can be pre-ordered here.
The 2-LP set will be available on both standard black vinyl and apple red vinyl pressings, with an etching of the ‘Hydra‘ character and the Otep mantra of ‘Art Saves’ appearing on side D of the set. Looking back on the album now, Shamaya offered:
“Hydra is a very unique and special album to me. Out of all nine albums, it’s only the second concept album I’ve written besides House of Secrets, which was an exciting challenge to undertake: adapting a novella into songs and to transcribe it as the main character herself.
I did a lot of research into the minds of serial killers, thrill killers, and mass murderers. One of the most impactful moments of research was listening to the Ted Bundy tapes, which had been retrieved from an old tape recorded and played in mono (so only in my left ear) as he whispered where he had hidden the head of one of his youngest victims.”
Meanwhile, Otep‘s ninth studio album “The God Slayer” is headed for a September 15th release on Cleopatra Records. However, those who pre-ordered the CD copy of the record via Cleorecs.com have already been receiving the effort early.
Speaking of that new full-length, which features covers of Slipknot, Eminem and more, Shamaya recently offered:
“I’m so proud of all the songs and covers. Vocally, the most challenging was the Eminem cover. He’s just such a master & his style is so unique. In my heart, the Slipknot cover was very important to me. Corey and his wife are friends of mine, Joey played 5 songs on House of Secrets. Clown used to let me stand side stage at OzzFest while he threw things at me (out of love of course).
Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo were difficult bcz they’re not my typical style but I think I honored the originals and made them mine (Olivia especially, it’s kind of a lesbian break up anthem now), PET was an honor (& some of the lyrics reflect my animal activism), Star Shopping was very special for many reasons, California Girls was a triumph by taking a classic song & reconstructing it based on the lyrics which are much darker than some ppl think.
Then there are the originals. Ostracize was approached as if I was a new artist and Nu-Metal was just happening now so what would that sound like? And with guitarists Kiki Wongo, it’s the first song I’ve ever had with a guitar solo.
The other originals are just as special and I wanted to show all that I am passionate about vocally, lyrically and stylistically. And lastly the secret track, that’s the VM my eldest brother left me the night before he died. He always believed in me and I miss him so, so sooo very much ❤️🩹 Thank you all ❤️”
