My Ruin vocalist Tairrie B. Murphy, who started her music career as a rap artist before launching Manhole as her stepping stone into metal, is gearing up for the release of her new Vintage Curses rap album in August. She has posted a track-by-track teaser for the album, which can be heard below.

Tairrie: "A dark and witchy journey back to my hip hop roots with a classic old school West Coast influence."

Tairrie recently spoke with George Stark at Daily Mail about going back to her roots. An excerpt from the interview is available below:

Q: While Vintage Curses has a distinct old school flavor, there is also an overall witchy vibe to it. In fact, you refer to yourself as 'The Crone' which is a unique way of addressing your age. Where did this influence come from?

Tairrie: "Age is meaningless so I have never kept mine secret. I turned 50 in January and it was on my birthday that I made the announcement I had recorded a new rap album. Sadly, age is often an issue within the entertainment industry. More so for women than men but age has nothing to do with ability and I have never felt my art came with an expiration date. The dictionary definition of 'Crone' is an old woman. A hag archetype. In some stories, she is seen as disagreeable, malicious, or sinister in manner, often with supernatural associations. In others she is mystical and symbolizes the last aspect of the Triple Goddess. She represents a rite of passage into an era of wisdom, strength, freedom and personal power. This is how I define it. Her color is black and she is associated with the waning or the dark of the new moon. Having spent the past 20 years in underground metal, I can relate. Calling myself the 'Crone' is done with a wink and a bit of tongue-in-cheek, on the other hand, I suppose I’m making a statement. Ageism is as real as sexism and racism.

When I started writing Vintage Curses back in 2013, my main concern was the subject matter. I am not the same person I was when I wrote The Power of a Woman so for those expecting me to make another song like Ruthless Bitch, that wasn't going to happen. I wanted this album to be reflective of who I am now as both a woman and artist. While I am not religious, I am a very spiritual person and I feel music is magick. It transcends barriers and allows me to express myself on an intimate, sometimes otherworldly level. Recording is a very personal experience and I often use metaphors and symbols as a way to entwine my influences. I believe that whatever you put out there into the universe as a sincere artist is representative of who you are at that particular point in your life and Vintage Curses signifies who I am at this moment. Fearless, within and beyond."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Tairrie B. recently posted the following message to her fans online:

"I founded my first band (Manhole) back in '93 after seeing Ice-T perform with his band Body Count. The power of the heavy riffs against his rap vocals spoke to me in a revelatory way and I soon decided to change my path in music which ultimately led me to My Ruin and has come full circle to lead me to back to my rap roots today. I love this video because it reminds me of where I came from. Thank you to those who have been with me since the beginning and to those who are re-connecting all these years later to follow me on my new journey."

Released to popular and critical acclaim, and available now for free download Bandcamp.com, "Beware The Crone" follows My Ruin vocalist Tairrie on a dark and witchy journey back to her hip hops roots with an old-school West Coast influence.

And now comes the stunning official video, beautifully shot in black and white with bewitching, esoteric visuals. Says Tairrie of her vision for the video: "It's been a while since I recorded a hip hop album, let alone a video with me rapping. Like the songs themselves, I didn't want to mimic what so many other women in music seem to be doing at the moment. I'm not a fan of bright colourful imagery or over-the-top sexuality. I wanted there to be a strong and empowering, yet darkly visceral and magical sensibility to the visuals."

Directed by Tairrie B herself, the mystic maven explains of the filming process: "I shot many of the scenes myself and others were filmed by my good friends Jill and Gary Bandfield of TourBusLive.com - talented husband and wife photographers. They understood where I wanted to go visually so I asked them to collaborate with me in bringing a few songs from my new album, Vintage Curses, to life."

"We shot all the nature scenes in the back woods of Griffith Park which is one of my favourite places to hike in Los Angeles and somewhere I have loved since I was a child. The rest of the video was filmed in Hollywood, in our studio and our home."

"Beware The Crone", is now available for free download via Bandcamp. Check it out via the player below.

Vintage Curses will be released on August 14th. For additional information and updates check out Tairrie's new Facebook page here.