There’s a lot of hype around Spiritworld at the moment. Appearances at Bloodstock, Brutal Assault and Psycho Las Vegas – seemingly out of nowhere – and their recent sophomore record Deathwestern have propelled them into the conversation, with the aesthetic of Wild West cowboy flicks and the attitude of a pitbull high on adrenaline. The cover art is great, their image is great, how does the record deliver?
Mojave Bloodlust sets the aesthetic tone with acoustic guitars, a brief, cinematic western overture. Out of nowhere, DEATHWESTERN bursts into the picture, with frenzied hardcore-meets-thrash intensity, whammy bar squeals and pummeling grooves. The production is great, the vocal delivery is fist-pumping and designed for crowd participation, the riffs straddle the warm, bouncy, nostalgic metal feel somewhere between Slayer, Lamb of God, Pantera and Hatebreed. Relic of Damnation has a cool Power Trip-style stomp with some Hanneman-esque darkness within the riffs, and Ulcer boasts some great lead guitar work.
With a fairly direct approach to songwriting, the tracks don’t feel bloated or outstay their welcome. Much the opposite, really – you wonder if some of these short songs, hovering around the three-minute mark, could have been developed a little more. With a lot of the material being fairly similar to each other, it’s hard to say a lot about some of the individual tracks. Though the tracks are short, the album can feel long in view of the musical one-dimensionality.
Still, some of the riffs are great, and tracks such as Committee of Buzzards or Moonlit Torture stand out for being a bit more in-your-face and heavy. With slamming double-bass and some seriously punishing guitar and vocal work, Committee is a step up in heaviness, and is more memorable than most for that reason. The track is a little longer, too, and is allowed more room to grow and tell a story. In an opposite way, Crucified Heathen Scum is great for its bludgeoning directness, its Slayer-esque breakdown and guttural vocal performance, all sure to turn a few heads.
It would be nice in future releases if Spiritworld dare to bring out a few more Western, country licks, as found in the intro track or the start of The Heretic Butcher to really push the Wild West aesthetic into the music. It can feel like the groove metal riffing and the acoustic plucking don’t really belong in the same album, so disparate are the two styles. There is definitely a bluesiness in the lead guitar shredding at times – but could this go further in the overall sound next time?
I’m reluctant to not have more to say, because when Spiritworld fire on all cylinders, they go hard – the record is riff city, each track performed with real conviction. It sounds huge, and on paper, it should be a contender for album of the year. It gets the adrenaline flowing, the tracks will be fantastic live, and Spiritworld have a serious buzz surrounding them. It’s just unfortunate for me personally that it sounds like what I’ve heard before and sticks to what it’s good at rather than trying something else.
Spiritworld released Deathwestern on 25/11/22 via Century Media
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