SPIRITWORLD

@ 18+ with valid ID Tickets for this event, if purchased with cash at Blueberry Hill, are discounted to face value – without extra ticket fees. “With, Helldorado, the third installment of SPIRITWORLD’s death-western trifecta, chief hombre Stu Folsom takes the listener deeper into a world where the hot desert sun beats down on his singular vision of the American West as a gateway to hell. “It’s a different album than the past two,” says Folsom, of the thematic and sonic journey that began with the Las Vegas band’s 2020’s Pagan Rhythms LP and continued with 2022’s Deathwestern. Now, the story rides on in a cloud of dust and a spray of blood with his latest offering. Helldorado blasts the Mojave-born bloodlust and stomping, tomahawk riffs SPIRITWORLD won their brutal, horrific vision of the old west with while riding straight into macabre Americana, “I could have done Deathwestern again,” says Stu of the album that won SPIRITWORLD international acclaim. “But that’s shortchanging the fans and myself.” Helldorado rings with the sort of true grit few heavy records do. From the urgent honky tonk swing of opener “Abilene Grime” straight into riffs that Slayer would be proud to call their own on “No Vacancy in Heaven” or “Waiting On the Reaper”. SPIRITWORLD hits with the fury of a cattle drive gone out of control. However, it’s with the punk-ish, rootsy swagger of “Bird Song of Death” and the spare, melancholic chords of “Prayer Lips” that Helldorado heads into yet unclaimed territory for Folsom and his rhinestone encrusted crew. “I like to make records that flow, that tell a story,” says Stu. “Helldorado does just that and sums up where we’ve been and where this is going.” Helldorado not only tightens the reins SPIRITWORLD’s riff-riding that has won the band “most played” stature at Sirius XM’s Liquid Metal, but also looks over its shoulder (with a cigarillo dangling from a sun parched lip) at their punk driven outlaw country origins. Folsom and his gang first assaulted Vegas Elks Lodges in 2017 on a mission to brand country music with a manic singalong energy cultivated over years involved in the local hardcore scene. “Dwight Yoakum probably meant as much to me growing up as Black Flag or Slayer did,” says Stu. With country in his soul and metal in his veins, Folsom had a yearning for the power of the riff. This found him teaming with producer/mixer Sam Pura (who has produced all 3 SPIRITWORLD records) to unleash Pagan Rhythms, first on the tiny independent label Safe Inside Records. The much buzzed about debut album caught the eye of Century Media who signed the band and issued the album worldwide a year later. The reaction to the album, which drew comparison to the likes of Slayer or Integrity was nothing short of overwhelming. Not surprisingly, it was the purity of Folsom’s vision that won raves from the likes of Gary Holt and Soulfly leader, Max Cavalera, who raved about the band on their social media. Helldorado is the next chapter of Folso...