Honky tonkin’ horror-and-metal lovers SpiritWorld, are set to take us down to Helldorado – for that’s the name of the Las Vegas genre-mixers’ next album. And while they teased the new dust-kickin’ LP a few weeks back through a grotesque animated clip, they’re now promoting the record with a horny video for twangin’ and bangin’ new single “Abilene Grime.”
Following last month’s rough-necked and mega-moshed “Western Stars & the Apocalypse,” the first half of this latest track shuffles through more of a country-western aesthetic (albeit with vocalist and project founder Stu Folsom howling hardcore-style above the arrangement). Eventually, the band drop into a Slayer-squealing backend.
“When I wrote the demo for ‘Abilene Grime,’ it felt like the album really found its identity and materialized out of the ether,” Folsom said in a statement. “It twangs, it bangs and it has a sick video, directed by our dear friend Todd Hailstone, which we filmed in Las Vegas a few weeks ago. “
Said vid finds the slick, Nudie suit-sporting SpiritWorld performing their track deep in the bowels of a fire-licked underworld. It also shows us a priest wandering a desert plain before being dragged into hell, where a literally horny creature shows him her grisly definition of necking before smacking him with the “devil’s kiss.”
Just like the “Western Stars & the Apocalypse” video, things get gory. You can see for yourself up above.
Helldorado is out February 21st via Century Media, and marks the third part in a trilogy that began with 2020’s Pagan Rhythms and continued through 2022’s DEATHWESTERN. Its narrative continues to follow a group of outlaws and misfits who find a gate to hell in the desert.
Helldorado is also said to continue SpiritWorld’s artistic journey through the worlds of death metal, hardcore, country and supernatural horror. The album will also connect to a forthcoming novel from Folsom, which likewise follows his earlier book, GODLESSNESS.
“Maybe it is a risk to incorporate things that will be pretty far out there for the casual punk or metalhead, but having the opportunity to make a record comes with a responsibility to me,” Folsom confessed. “I take it very seriously to follow my gut and let my style hang out on these records. I only want to do things in life that I am all in on. If that makes me an outcast or even more fringe than your average underground music act then that’s okay. The stench of being genuine is beautiful.”
Helldorado was recorded with producer Sam Pura (Heavy Heavy Low Low, the Story So Far) at his Panda Studios in Fremont, California and features guest appearances from Blackbraid’s Sgah’gahsowáh, Rise Against’s Zach Blair and Kreator’s Frederic Leclercq.
Helldorado tracklist:
Abilene Grime
No Vacancy in Heaven
Western Stars & The Apocalypse
Bird Song of Death
Prayer Lips
Waiting on the Reaper
Oblivion
Cleansing
Stigmata Scars
Annihilism