SpiritWorld‘s Stu Folsom guides us track by track through the creation of their third studio album ‘Helldorado’, out now via Century Media Records.

Abilene Grime

“I had been working on writing this album for a while and had a handful of songs I was into but it was really when I finished the demo for The Grime, that I understood where Helldorado was going in terms of direction and vibe. It is a departure from our last couple of records, there is a Country & Western train beat and a telecaster rockabilly riff driving the first half, and then the tempo, guitars, amps and drums all change. So, it made it very difficult to pull off and make sound cohesive. Our producer Sam Pura really helped dial in the way this song flows with all of these different sonic textures being used on the same track.”

No Vacancy In Heaven

“This was one of the first couple of songs I wrote for the record. It really pulls from my love of 80s thrash. I’ve been going to a lot of thrash shows since the pandemic lifted and we’ve been lucky enough to tour with bands like Kreator, Sepultura, Enforced, etc. so I’ve spent a lot of time standing out in the crowd headbanging and loving the riffs. We played a show Testament was at and it was great to just sit and watch them. Metallica had us out to play some stuff on their big tour and us and the 200 Stab Wounds guys all got to kick it and watch Metallica. The first tape I bought with my own money was Master of Puppets, so it has been a real full circle moment since Pagan Rhythms came out where we have been embraced by so many of our Thrash gods, and I am proud to do my own spin on the style that really got me into heavy music.”

Western Stars & The Apocalypse

“I think this was the first song I wrote, right when DEATHWESTERN had came out. I really like combining the faster thrashy parts and a bouncy groove. It’s short, it’s fun. Really cool song to play live!”

Bird Song of Death

“I really think this song works well. There is a lot of cool things happening. I love the main telecaster lead riff. It reminds me of Dwight Yoakam and all the old honky tonkers doing baritone riffs like Johnny Horton, etc. For the drums on this record we recorded the more roots music songs on a different kit, in a different room at Panda Studios. I dig the way this song comes in after such a heavy riff on Western Stars, with a completely different vibe and groove. Super cool to go back to what we were writing on our demo and explore that sound again. I really love the songs on our demo and look forward to playing more stuff like this.”

Prayer Lips

“This is the most different song from what we have done before. Once I sorted out what this album was going to be in terms of direction and blending styles, this song was sort of the case study. No rules. Pick up a guitar and see where it goes. This is the most difficult guitar part on the whole album to play. The way the vocals, guitar harmonies and saxophone played by our homie RJ come in, really lift this song into something unexpected and cool to find in the middle of a heavy metal band’s album. It’s really cool to be able to explore ideas with this project and let the song’s dictate where they go. You can’t do that if you are worried about what people think about your band or your previous body of work without poisoning your intent with self doubt.”

Waiting on the Reaper

“I love Slayer, Exodus and Power Trip so much. I think this song in particular is a good representation of what I like to do with heavy songs. I grew up listening to country music that has a lot of really wild storytelling and staring at really crazy heavy metal band artwork. When I look at art by Frank Frazetta or Boris or read comics with covers by Simon Bizley I would almost make up my own stories for those characters. Especially if the songs or books the art was on didn’t connect with me. That tradition of blending really great in your face artwork and storytelling is why I started SpiritWorld. Between the artwork by James Bousema and the video for this song, I think Reaper is a really badass world to get sucked into and explore.”

Oblivion

“I’ve said this in a few interviews, but Oblivion was the bitch of the bunch. This was the song that would not die. For most of its life it didn’t work and was on the cusp of being scrapped. Big shout out to my friends from BlackBraid and Rise Against for jumping on the track and helping me get it in the can when I finally realized how to finish it. This is a good reminder that sometimes you have to work extra hard to get something finished. They all can’t come easy.”

Cleansing

“I wrote a lot of interludey pieces that were cinematic and sort of soundtracky things for this album. Eventually they all got scrapped as the album came together but Cleansing somehow survived and made the record. I played this riff on an ES335 and my American Telecaster and then ran it through some cool pedals that Sam had. I love the riff so much I think it will probably return again in another song.”

Stigmata Scars

“I kept thinking about Fear Factory when I had this song done and was doing the vocals for it at my house. I don’t think it sounds like FF but their first 3 records were on repeat a lot as I worked on this album, and I think it seeped into this one. Fred from Kreator played such a killer solo on this track. It was a cool feeling to get the song back from him and just be blown away by the shred. How siiiiiick!!!!!”

Annihilism

“It made sense to end both sides of this record with songs exploring love and loss. The lyric, “All the devils and the demons in that dark pit, are gonna curse my name,” was scribbled on a notebook for some reason. I don’t know why I wrote it but it came back to me when I was spitting out ideas for this chorus. I always appreciate when things are repurposed in the moment and find their home. I dig the guitar and sax solos at the end of this when it picks up the tempo.”