Last year I premiered the first EP from a new Death Metal band called Phantom Horde. Describing songs from The Umbra, I wrote: “while the members hail from California and Texas, the blood of Gothenburg’s golden era rages through their veins.” Less than a year later, they return with a two-track tandem of singles that slither from a totally different wreckage of heavy influences. Today we cast “Prince of Death” from the void two days early. This track and the B-side single “Born of the Void” will be streamable everywhere on Friday, June 16th.
Bass prowls from the song’s first moments before a barrage of poisonous screams. “Prince of Death” is brutal and brooding, scowling through waves of distortion. Phantom Horde achieve a leaner style, but the song is still full of sly segues that keep the composition elusive. Down to the track’s final mosh pit melee, the song feels like a pummel of punches, and that’s by design.
“For these two singles we really wanted to go for something more stripped back,” Phantom Horde shares. “We incorporated quite a bit of dynamics in the name of experimentation on our debut EP, The Umbra. We plan to revisit that sound on our upcoming LP. But with these tracks we felt the call to be unapologetically heavy. No clean sections, fewer layers. Just riffs, grooves, and growls.”
“Lyrically,” he continues, “these songs are extremely inspired by the video game Elden Ring and its dark fantasy lore and world building. “Prince of Death” is about a chosen-son being put to death by the very religious order that propped him up, and plotting revenge from the other side. “Born of The Void” taps into our love of cosmic horror, and the fear that at any moment an incomprehensible monster made of stars could fall from the heavens and steal our sky.”
Hail the “Prince of Death” and embrace the void below.
Follow Phantom Horde on Bandcamp ahead of the release HERE
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