Angerot once proclaimed they were “pure Swede Death Worship” but on sophomore LP The Divine Apostate spread their rotting wings. The album’s guests served as solid hints. Suffocation’s Terrance Hobbs suggests a New York death metal angle, while the name Snowy Shaw brings to mind a multitude of genres.
“Coalesced With Wickedness” finds that one-time Mercyful Fate and King Diamond drummer out from behind the kit. Instead, he contributes vocals: spoken words, evil laughter and, appropriately, falsetto operatic singing.
Don’t worry, though, the song is still death metal — even Swedish. The opening riff would make Entombed proud but the song quickly gets stuck in tar. That Morbid Angel lurch recalls Bloodbath’s turn from Swedeath worship to slimier vibes on “Mock the Cross.”
The video goes for an occult feel with freaky footage placed upon performance clips: opacity turned down and creepiness turned up. Vocalist/guitarist C.R. Petit made the video and weighs in on the song that soundtracks it.
“‘Coalesced [With Wickedness]’ revolves around my personal breaking point in regards to faith and organized religion. That point at which I stepped away from everything I have been told and focus on my own opinions. It focuses on finally connecting with the guiding voice inside yourself and embracing it. It’s about the realization that strength and power come from within.
“When we were writing this song, we were talking about guest musicians and who we would like to potentially work with for the new album. I mentioned Snowy as he has been someone Jason and I have admired since his drumming work with King Diamond, and I felt we could definitely do something standout with him. He is so damn unique and insanely talented. His work with Dimmu [Borgir], Therion and his solo work has all been very impressive to me. We wrote the song to help cater to what Snowy is capable of doing and presented it to him after we had it tracked. We gave him very little guidance apart from basic lyrical content and asked him to just do as he sees fit. To me, it just feels like he was meant to be on the track.”
He’s also in the video, which you can watch in the player below.
Pick up a copy of The Divine Apostate here. The album is out now via Redefining Darkness Records.
