sacred monster

The Evil Fun of Sacred Monster's "Re-Animator"

sacred monster

Crawling forth from the slimy, sinister alleyways of Chicago, the bizarre and deliciously wicked entity that is Sacred Monster has once again emerged into the realm of the living to conjure hideous elder gods from unfathomable dimensions with gleefully twisted riffs. Formed in 2012 and having already released two fantastic EPs, the group will now finally unleash its first full-length album Worship the Weird upon the world through an independent March 1st release. Consisting of eight Lovecraft-worshipping tracks, Worship the Weird is jam-packed with Sacred Monster’s uncanny combination of bluesy stoner grooves, old-school heavy metal sensibilities, and the ripping tone of classic 1980s thrash. Tying the entire heartwarmingly evil aesthetic together are the rasping, vividly demonic vocals of “Minister of Screams” Adam Szcygieł, whose one-of-a-kind voice wonderfully highlights the tongue-in-cheek occultist attitude of the album.

In anticipation of the record’s fast-approaching release date, the band is now premiering the Worship the Weird‘s fourth track “Re-Animator” in the form of a gloriously tacky lyric video featuring a montage of clips from old horror films, perfectly befitting the campy vibe of the track.

The video begins with a black-and-white establishing shot of an old antenna TV displaying a title card that introduces the song — a closer look reveals a tiny caption at the bottom of the screen that comedically reads “based on a movie we don’t have the rights to, so here’s a bunch of footage from public domain ones.” After a two-bar lead-in, we are immediately launched into “Re-Animator’s” chorus, which presents a thumping, swing-time hard rock riff around which the entire track revolves. Wavy, retro text of the Scooby-Doo ilk appears over the old distorted clips, presenting the call-and-response lyrics of the song’s refrain: a choir of raucous voices chants the words “re-animate you!” to which the Minister of Screams first replies, “rise from your graves!” and then “to make you my slaves!” Szcygieł’s vocals here are characteristically harsh and witch-like yet still retain a strong element of melody, often surging into a Bonn Scott-esque falsetto screech as he proclaims his dark narrative detailing the creation and enslavement of an undead army.

Just past the two-minute mark, a kaleidoscopic parade of syringes soaked in otherworldly psychedelic saturation dance across the screen to the tune of an utterly righteous classic metal guitar solo, which leads into the menacing final passage of the song’s bridge. A more death metal-oriented, chugged version of the main riff slithers out as the vocals shift into a gutturally growled spoken-word section before this tension releases into one final iteration of the chorus. Overall, “Re-Animator” has a more upbeat, sleazy feel to it than Worship the Weird’s first single “High Confessor” (streaming below) which features a much slower stoner-doom rhythm and texture. If the contrast between these two tracks is any indication of the album’s overall direction, it would seem that Sacred Monster is set to blow audiences away with highly consummate debut album that incorporates a healthy range of influences while still presenting a concise overarching vision that deftly balances accessibility and novelty.

Worship the Weird releases March 1st. Follow the band on Facebook. They will be playing a record release show in Chicago at Livewire Lounge (Facebook event page here) on release night.

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