Exclusive Album Premiere: SpiritWorld’s Pagan Rhythms

The title track that opens SpiritWorld‘s new album, Pagan Rhythms, begins with a sample of some d-bag preaching about how “rock n’ roll music” has “turned our nation into a pagan society.”

Well, Christ help that poor bastard if he hears this record.

The brainchild of of Las Vegas-based artist, author, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and vocalist, Stu Folsom, SpiritWorld makes the kind of metallic hardcore that sounds like it might actually summon Satan from the lowest depths of Hell. Slayer-esque riffs are spat out by razor-sharp guitars that wrap around the listener and constrict like barbed wire; the drums, half of which are by Thomas Pridgen (ex-The Mars Volta), half of which are by Adam Elliott (ex-Apiary), hammer the ears with enough force to destroy solid concrete; Folsom’s vocals sound like they’re the product of a child created by a Max Cavalera/Jamey Jasta hate fuck. There’s also some country-western flavoring, a product of Fulsom’s admiration for country singers like George Jones, country-punks like John Doe, and bleak Western storytellers like Cormac McCarthy (in fact, Pagan Rhythms is the auditory accompaniment to Godlessness, a collection of Fulsom’s Western horror short stories, which he says were largely influenced by McCarthy; copies of the book will accompany vinyl pressings of the album).

In short: Pagan Rhythms rules, and MetalSucks is chuffed to be debuting it today! You can listen below. The album comes out THIS Friday, July 10, and can be pre-ordered here. At that same link, you can also buy a t-shirt, designed by Gatecreeper’s Chase Mason, the proceeds from which will be donated to the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women.