SpiritWorld: Waiting On The Reaper

In the elitist landscape of contemporary heavy music, few bands challenge conventions quite like SPIRITWORLD. Since their inception, the Las Vegas-based outfit has carved out a singularly unique space, crafting a universe that defies easy categorisation by blending thrash metal, hardcore punk, and Western storytelling. Come on, who doesn’t love cowboys and demons?

With their third album, Helldorado, frontman Stu Folsom doesn’t just push boundaries, he obliterates them entirely. Whilst narratively it follows on from 2022’s DeathWestern, its sequel marks a subtle departure from the SPIRITWORLD of old. “DeathWestern and Pagan Rhythms were much safer records,” Folsom admits candidly. “This one is pretty experimental. There’s not a lot of bands that do wild, weird stuff and make it work in the context of a death metal, thrash metal, hardcore box.”

Sure, No Vacancy In Heaven and Waiting On The Reaper still scratch the itch for full-throttle thrash metal and the kind of hardcore that keeps pit generals young at heart. But Abilene Grime’s organ-meet-stomping-groove is giving rockabilly at the end of the world, Bird Song Of Death’s gang vocals are BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN possessed by the devil, and Prayer Lips is campfire country at its finest.

The path to Helldorardo was anything but straightforward. Rooted in a deeply personal creative process, Folsom initially envisioned an alt-country record. SPIRITWORLD’s label Century Media Records had other ideas, though. “Being honest, I thought I would do an all country record right now, but then it was tough to make it fit in,” he explains. “Our label was like, ‘yeah, we’ll do it, but it’ll be a bonus record, like obviously we want a metal record’.”

Rather than make both, Folsom swapped his creative constraints for an opportunity to radically innovate their sound. Despite throwing country and americana into the mix, Helldorardo is a spaghetti western on high at just 28 minutes and 10 tracks.”

Whilst Folsom admits its “a practical solution, because your record contract says you have to turn in 10 new compositions, and the minimum run time is 28 minutes, so that’s like your homework assignment”, it’s mostly a reaction to the age of streaming we’re living in. “Albums that start getting over 30 minutes, 40 minutes, 50 minutes, I rarely listen to ‘em all the way through,” he explains, thinking about the listeners, too. “When I’m in my day-to-day life with work, I find 20-30 minutes is the time I have to throw a pair of headphones on and consume a record.”

This risk-taking is fundamental to SPIRITWORLD’s ethos. Folsom understands that true artistic innovation comes from challenging both listener and industry expectations. “I guess I just make it harder on myself,” he says. “The easy thing would be to do DeathWestern 2 and just stay in that lane, but that’s not who I am as an artist.”

Talking of breadcrumbs, on previous albums, “the lyrics were more or less an afterthought” owing to the fact that Folsom doesn’t really care “who your vocalist is or how good or bad they are, like if your guitar player and drummer are the shit, you can put anybody up there, cause I just love the riffing and the groove so much”.

However, Helldorado’s emotional landscape is shaped by Folsom’s experiences, including the loss of his father. “My dad passed away when we were on tour with SEPULTURA,” he shares, reflecting on the impact of life’s events. “Those heavy things, like I can hear that stuff and I can hear those vibes. It’s not on the nose, but I feel it when I listen to this record.”

Beyond that, tracks like Abilene Grime draw from struggles with substance abuse, weaving intimate reflections into the band’s larger narrative. “That song is influenced by substance abuse and some people in my inner circle, and I like incorporating that more, because no one else will know where that feeling came from when I wrote it, but just like you picked it out where you’re like, ‘there’s a personal touch to this’, and I think people that are great songwriters can do that pretty effortlessly, where you synthesise all these things happening in your real life, and then you put them out in art.”

This approach reflects SPIRITWORLD’s broader artistic philosophy. “I tend to like bands where it’s just somebody being honest,” he explains. “There’s people that do things literally by themselves and make these crazy records that are just telling us whatever’s going on in their life that I can really sink my teeth into.”

In a scene often dominated by gatekeeping and rigid expectations, SPIRITWORLD’s distinctive aesthetic has occasionally drawn criticism, something Folsom addresses head-on. “I did have somebody on Facebook talking a bunch of shit to me and these psychos that email you and talk shit,” he reveals. “It’s hard for me to take that person seriously. If you’re that passionate, clearly you have a drive to create art. So stop being a shit talker and go make your opus.”

As Helldorado swings by the saloons of listeners’ ears, Folsom hints at future expansions of the SPIRITWORLD universe. “I’ve got a big chunk of fiction writing that these songs are pulled out of,” he teases. “There’s probably one more record to tie it in and put a bow on it where it takes this story to its conclusion.”

If it feels like SPIRITWORLD are just gathering momentum, it might be time to readjust your expectations. Whilst the next album will give this story arc the grand finale it deserves, it might also be the band’s curtain call, Folsom explains: “In my mind, I feel like there’s a good spot to stop this, then I can maybe break completely away from concepts and do something different.”

Whatever the future holds, one thing is clear: in an era of increasingly homogenised metal, SPIRITWORLD stands as a testament to the power of uncompromising artistic vision. For Folsom, this is more than just music. “This is my escape, this is fun, I like to make stuff,” he says simply. And in that simplicity lies the profound truth of SPIRITWORLD, a band that refuses to be anything other than exactly what it wants to be.

Helldorado is out now via Century Media Records. View this interview, alongside dozens of other killer bands, in glorious print magazine fashion in DS119 here:

For more information on SPIRITWORLD like their official page on Facebook.