Philadelphia psych/black metal band DEVIL MASTER have unleashed their new single “Death Anthem,” accompanied by an official music video. The track is the latest preview of the band’s forthcoming album, Bloody Dreams, due September 4 via Relapse Records.
According to bandleader Darkest Prince, “Death Anthem” serves as a tribute to influential Japanese hardcore band G.I.S.M. and its late members Sakevi Yokoyama and Randy Uchida.
“‘Death Anthem’ [is] an homage eulogy to G.I.S.M. — our label mates with visionary Sakevi Yokohama having passed on August 23 2023, and his cohort Randy Uchida in 2001. Lyrically you can hear our calls to Satan, Dionysus and Kali respectively!”
The song offers another glimpse into what DEVIL MASTER describe as their darkest and filthiest record yet, pushing their established collision of black metal and punk further into psychedelic territory.
Written entirely by Darkest Prince, Bloody Dreams draws inspiration from an unusually broad musical palette. Greek and Andean folk music and Cumbia sit alongside longtime influences such as G.I.S.M., Bathory and Vlad Tepes, with psychedelic music further shaping the record’s atmosphere.
For Darkest Prince, folk music in particular provides an important foundation for DEVIL MASTER’s sound.
“Folk is eternal. I think that resonates with people. It’s been cultivated forever. It’s archetypal, primal. It taps into something across cultures.”
That approach feeds into the band’s continuing effort to blur distinctions between black metal, punk, psychedelia and gothic aesthetics. Darkest Prince traces the latter beyond its modern musical associations, connecting the band’s concept of “gothic” to its historical progression from the Gothic tribes through architecture and literature.
The result is an album that initially charges forward with punk aggression and a feral black metal edge before gradually descending into increasingly strange and psychedelic territory.
Bloody Dreams was mastered by Arthur Rizk and engineered by Davis M. Shubs alongside Grammy-nominated engineer Eric Bogacz. The album also features guest appearances from Mirai Kawashima of Sigh, former Power Trip drummer Chris Ulsh and Ur Èmdr Œrvn of Arkha Sva.
Bloody Dreams Tracklist
- You Worms’ Vain Delusions
- Trembling at Dusk
- Sex with Succubus
- Death Anthem
- Bloody Dreams
- Farewell Waltz to Unfortune’s Palace
Artwork for the album was created by Paul Barton.
DEVIL MASTER formed in 2015 and have developed their identity through a deliberately murky combination of black metal, punk, gothic atmosphere and psychedelia. Their previous albums include 2019’s Satan Spits on Children of Light and 2022’s Ecstasies of Never Ending Night.
The band will also appear on select dates supporting Japanese avant-garde metal veterans Sigh.
DEVIL MASTER currently consists of Darkest Prince on guitar, Disembody Through Unparalleled Pleasure on bass and vocals, Infernal Moonlight Apparition on guitar, and Wrought by Fathomless Hands on drums.
Bloody Dreams arrives September 4 via Relapse Records