Fans of horror films released during the ’70s and ’80s span the globe, a cult to be sure, but a large and devoted one. If we were to make a Venn diagram, we would also find a significant area of overlap with the cult of metal, and within that intersection we would find Seven Doors, a one-man horror-themed death metal band from the South West of the UK.
Through this project, named for the hotel in the Lucio Fulci film, The Beyond, Ryan Wills has combined his passion for horror films of those past decades with musical inspirations drawn from such bands as Death, Gorguts, Asphyx, Malevolent Creation, and Cannibal Corpse, and the results of those intersecting interests are to be found in Seven Doors‘ debut album Feast of the Repulsive Dead. Like Seven Doors‘ debut EP The Gates of Hell, it will be released by Redefining Darkness Records, with the arrival slated for January 27th to quickly darken the impending New Year.
Ryan Wills‘ devotion to horror manifests itself in multiple ways on the new record, from the ghastly album and song titles to lyrics that are directly inspired by films like City of the Living Dead, Re-animatior, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Beyond (of course), and more.
And if you’re going to make a horror-themed work of extreme metal, who better to create its intro track than Slasher Dave from Acid Witch, who did indeed fashion the opener to Feast of the Repulsive Dead.
But now let’s dive into the music itself, and in particular to the album’s sixth track in the running order, which bears the tender title “I’ll Swallow Your Soul“. Ryan explains:
“Lyrically this song is based on Sam Raimi‘s Evil Dead franchise and some quotes from the movies are used for the chorus of the song. As for the music, I mostly took influence from Suffocation‘s slower moments as I really wanted a groovier chunky feel on this one.”
True to the song’s name, Seven Doors‘ distorted guitar tone is nasty, both malignant and toxic, and the riffing moves in a fast lurch, anchored by thundering double-kicks and a skull-snapping snare. Thankfully for music such as this, Ryan Wills is possessed of a hideous roar and does indeed sound like he’d like nothing better than to fill his belly with your soul.
The song’s lurching cadence both slows and quickens, and meanwhile the guitar both drags in agony through tar and convulses in crazed spasms. Sensations of feral and brazen madness emerge when the song speeds up after a head-hooking bridge, almost gleeful in its surge, and you’ll also encounter supernatural-sounding solos that themselves sound fiendishly ecstatic.
And have no fear, you’ll get a good chance to vigorously work your neck before the song ends, even as the track’s punishing low end takes a crowbar to your spine.
To return to some further credits, Slasher Dave isn’t the only guest that Ryan Wills enlisted to make his frightening visions a reality. Paul Nazarkardeh of De Profundis contributed a guest solo on track 4, “The Morbid Mortician“, and Chris Monroy and Mike De La O of Skeletal Remains performed guest solos on “The Graves of Matool“. Below you can also listen to two previously released single from the album, “Stalked, Strangled and Stabbed” and “Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers“.
Ben King mixed the album at Cryptic Sound, and it was mastered by JB Van Der Wal. Credit for the cover art and logo goes to Dedy Badic Art, and Nestor Carrera crafted the layout.
Redefining Darkness will release this exhilarating, ghoulish work on vinyl, CD, and digital formats, and you can place your orders now:
PRE-ORDER:
https://sevendoorsdm.bandcamp.com/album/feast-of-the-repulsive-dead
http://shop.redefiningdarkness.com
SEVEN DOORS:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100031961996679