Worship Shares Fierce Title Track From Sophomore LP
The last time we were impacted by WORSHIP’s punishing mix of sludgy doom, post-metal, and hardcore was when the Salinas, California quartet brought us ‘All Too Human’ (2015). In the years that have transpired, the band has of course grown even deeper musically and lyrically, drawing upon primal themes embodied in song titles like “Serpents,” “The Cave,” “Without,” and “Paralyze.”
Today, Doomed & Stoned is giving you a first listen to the roaring title track from their forthcoming second LP, 'Tunnels’ (2020). It’s Worship’s most thematically challenging and musically forward album to date. Frontman Andrew Cannon had this to say about the new single:
“When I wrote 'Tunnels’ I was living part time in Arizona with my family and part time in California because I work for Santa Cruz Skateboards. The song addresses the longing to be with people you can’t be with and finding solace in the trees that formed a tunnel surrounding my apartment. Appreciating them helped to keep me present in the moment and appreciative of where I was, knowing that all things are temporary”
Tunnels was recorded by Scott Evans and mastered by James Plotkin. It will be issued on July 17th, in both digital and vinyl formats (pre-order here). For every record sold, the band is donating five dollars to Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital for research on epilepsy and cerebral palsy. Actually, the colors of the vinyl represents the ribbon colors for each: purple for epilepsy and green for cerebral palsy.
Give ear…
D&S Reviews
‘All Too Human’ by Worship
By BillyGoat (Editor-in-Chief, Doomed & Stoned)
Worship from Salinas, California is a “bang your head” hardcore-thrash project with occasional doom-sludge overtones. The easiest comparison that comes to mind is Black Tusk, long a fav of doom-stoner afficionados. Interestingly, Worship count among their influences, “Sabbath. Zeppelin. Converge. Botch. Cave In. Baroness. Trap Them. Tragedy, Cursed. Russian Circles. Isis.” Interesting. For me, the most relatable paralell to their sound would be to Trap Them, the fantastic East Coast death-punk band, and the hardcore band Converge out of New York/Massachusetts. Worship currently reside on the other side of the continent, travelling in the same circles as He Whose Ox is Gored, The Helm, Sól, Gardens, Granted Earth, Heiress, Seizures, The Bad Light, Miasma, Gatecreeper, and other West Coasters.
The songs on 'All Too Human’ (2015), their second EP following 2013’s Book of Beasts are short and deadly — full of primal, cathartic rage. If I were wanting to go out and, I don’t know, take a sledgehammer to cinderblock wall, this might be my soundtrack. But that’s just judging by sound alone. When you realize that there is, in fact, a story behind each of these songs, you want to listen to the entire record again and appreciate it on an entirely different level.
There is, for example, “Doomrider,” which speaks of an inevitable dystopian future, perhaps even an apocalyptic destiny of Biblical proportions:“Twenty five years from now, only the elite will rise, and be left to stand…Damned alone to face the beast who rides upon the palest of four horses. And in the wake of Pestilence, Famine, and War, comes Death. When eye to eye six feet below the sickly pale green creature, death is effortless.”
Or my favorite songs of the record is “Lifeless.” Out of the the lot of seven tracks, this one ventures most into doom territory, beginning with an agressive baseline that leads into a plodding middle section which breaks into a rather moving, exasperated chorus, then back into the churning whirlpool of hardcore turmoil.
The lyrics here, too, are compelling: “Two decades falling behind, before succumbing to open eyes, to see the world as it really is. The blind leading the blind, by a wonder word of disgust, waiting for a sign to break free. With open eyes one can finally see what’s been hidden behind.”
All-in-all, a fascinating release, made richer by the philosophical content of its lyrics. This is no random collection of songs; this is a statement, perhaps a warning or maybe just an eyes-wide-open evaluation of the stark realities of life, accented by the scrapes and screams of hardcore metal. The verdict is best expressed in the sardonic closing words of “Misanthorpy and Love”: Human, all too human. So lovely.