Photo by: Nicholl Strouse
Official press release:
The darkest, filthiest alleys of old Philadelphia, Devil Master arise once more to corrupt the children of light with their new album, Bloody Dreams, due September 4 via Relapse Records. Bloody Dreams is uniquely Devil Master. Punkier, with a psychedelic lean, yet festooned with a feral black metal aura, the album gleams from the abyss.
They haven’t shied away from the ghastly, boot-tapping spectacle they’ve ushered without permission into our unreality. Written entirely by Darkest Prince between the vellichor pages of decadence and time’s cruel hand, it’s an album that deceives. Up front, Bloody Dreams rages, mohawks and pale skin thumbing through the detritus of 17th-century graveyards. As it matures, it devolves, splaying minds into absinthe-laced psychosis and the untidiest of silhouettes.
Their unhinged lead single and video “You Worms’ Vain Delusions” is available today.
Darkest Prince says, setting the scene for what came before and inevitable with Bloody Dreams:
“The etymology of the word ‘gothic’ is from the Gothic tribes. They were called barbaric. Eventually, that word settled into cathedrals, which people thought looked horrific. Literature took its name from the architecture [of the day]. So, our psychedelic blend of black metal and punk is defiant. Literally the marriage and definition of the whole history of the etymology of the word ‘gothic,’ of the barbarian punk side up to the spiritual, dark, supernatural, gothic evil.”
Newcomers to Devil Master are urged to feel the presence of Darkest Prince’s words. They’re encouraged to let go of modern constructs, of life framed by “information everywhere,” to set foot in and breathe the otherworld of Prince invoking Baudelaire, Ducasse, et al. Musically, Devil Master peel back the layers of black metal and punk, finding the root of evil in folk music. Indeed, a casual ear towards “Black Flame Candle” and “Devil Is Your Master” (both from 2019’s Satan Spits on Children of Light), as well as “The Vigour of Evil” and “Acid Black Mass” (both from Ecstasies of Never Ending Night) will hear upbeats, repetition, and occasionally, hope. Since forming in 2015, the crux of Devil Master has been blurring the lines between dark and light, misery and aspiration.
Darkest Prince effuses:
“The only thing I’m inspired by is Greek and Andean folk music, as well as Cumbia. Folk is eternal. I think that resonates with people. It’s been cultivated forever. It’s archetypal, primal. It taps into something across cultures. W. B. Yeats, the Irish poetic/occultist, is my favorite poet, and he described folk music as proud and lonely. That’s always resonated with me. OK, I still listen to a lot of G.I.S.M., Bathory, and Vlad Tepes — bands I’ve liked for a very long time — but that’s about as metal as I get. So, there’s folk music and punk in us, and there’s also a lot of psychedelic influence, too.”
Mastered by Arthur Rizk and engineered by Davis M. Shubs and Grammy-nominated engineer Eric Bogacz, Bloody Dreams dances darkly. Guests include Mirai Kawashima (Sigh), former drummer Chris Ulsh (Power Trip), and Ur Èmdr Œrvn (Arkha Sva) who enhance Devil Master’s supernatural power.
There is no shadow without light… Bloody Dreams invites you into and out of the abyss.
Pre-order/pre-save Bloody Dreams here.
Bloody Dreams track listing:
- “You Worms’ Vain Delusions”
- “Trembling at Dusk”
- “Sex with Succubus”
- “Death Anthem”
- “Bloody Dreams”
- “Farewell Waltz to Unfortune’s Palace”
9/03 Aleksandrow Lodzki PL – Summer Dying Loud Festival
9/04 Kracow, PL – Zaścianek *
9/05 Brno, CZ – Kabinet MUZ *
9/06 Hungary, BP – Robot
9/07 Munich, DE – Hansa 39 *
9/08 Leipzig, DE – Moritzbasei *
9/09 Berlin, DE – Badehaus *
9/10 Copenhagen, DK – Beta *
9/11 Hamburg, DE – Betty *
9/12 Cologne, DE – Garagen
9/13 Leeuwarden, NL – Neushoorn *
9/14 Utrecht, NL – DB’s *
9/15 Paris, FR – Backstage By The Mill *
* = supporting Sigh