Biography
Philadelphia's Devil Master fuse first-wave Satanic black metal, Japanese hardcore, Yankee d-beat, and swirling death rock into an extreme-music project that rejects artificial genre lines. The group thrashes, wails, drones, and shreds in open worship of the Evil One and his minions, yet they approach the unwholesome subjects of eternal damnation, horror, misery, and unholy union with the undead as occasions for celebration and humor rather than dour pseudo-religious doctrine. Their debut compilation, Manifestations, issued by Relapse and drawn from the band's earliest demos plus a single, unites those chosen musical tenets with a gleeful sense of mischief that also colors their live presentations, which feature props and pranks ranging from corpse paint to giant spider webs that audience members freely interact with.
Five friends, several of them practicing Satanists, formed Devil Master in 2016 under the aliases lead guitarist Dark Prince, rhythm guitarist Hades Apparition, vocalist Disembody, drummer Del, and bassist Spirit Mirror; keyboardist Dodder joined later. At the time of formation, the members were already active in Philadelphia's hardcore and metal communities: Dark Prince, whose given name is Francis Kano, serves as live bassist for Integrity; Spirit Mirror fronts the post-punk band Blank Spell; and Dodder plays in Grave Spell. All drew deep inspiration from Japanese hardcore, especially G.I.S.M. and Zouo, as well as the attack and imagery of early black metal acts such as Venom, Celtic Frost, and Bathory, alongside death-rock and post-punk artists associated with the Hell Comes to Your House scene in Los Angeles and bands such as Christian Death and 45 Grave. As a unit they felt no obligation to restrict themselves to any single style and instead merged them all.
Their first self-titled cassette demo, decorated with pink accents and occult imagery, sold out almost immediately after release through social-media channels. As the group's reputation spread on Twitter and Instagram, awareness of the music and copies of the tape reached listeners worldwide; the collision of styles proved irresistible to extreme-music fans. Roughly a year later, when the single "Obscene Charade" appeared on Bandcamp, metal press outlets were already covering the band. That same year they quickly issued another cassette, the four-song, one-sided Inhabit the Corpse, which likewise sold out at once. Late in the year Relapse, long known for documenting rock's outer edges, signed the group and assembled all prior material into the eight-track, 23-minute Manifestations, which Arthur Rizk (Sumerlands, Power Trip) remixed and remastered; the compilation appeared in 2018. Festival dates outside Philadelphia introduced Devil Master's manic, ferocious yet lighthearted stage show and incendiary sound to crowds who responded with immediate enthusiasm. At the end of the year Relapse placed the band in a Philadelphia studio with Rizk to track their raw, lo-fi debut full-length Satan Spits on Children of Light, which expanded their cross-genre approach with elements of mutant surf and gothic rock while centering lyrics of misanthropic humor and spiritual warfare; the album was released in March 2019 during an ongoing tour.
Five friends, several of them practicing Satanists, formed Devil Master in 2016 under the aliases lead guitarist Dark Prince, rhythm guitarist Hades Apparition, vocalist Disembody, drummer Del, and bassist Spirit Mirror; keyboardist Dodder joined later. At the time of formation, the members were already active in Philadelphia's hardcore and metal communities: Dark Prince, whose given name is Francis Kano, serves as live bassist for Integrity; Spirit Mirror fronts the post-punk band Blank Spell; and Dodder plays in Grave Spell. All drew deep inspiration from Japanese hardcore, especially G.I.S.M. and Zouo, as well as the attack and imagery of early black metal acts such as Venom, Celtic Frost, and Bathory, alongside death-rock and post-punk artists associated with the Hell Comes to Your House scene in Los Angeles and bands such as Christian Death and 45 Grave. As a unit they felt no obligation to restrict themselves to any single style and instead merged them all.
Their first self-titled cassette demo, decorated with pink accents and occult imagery, sold out almost immediately after release through social-media channels. As the group's reputation spread on Twitter and Instagram, awareness of the music and copies of the tape reached listeners worldwide; the collision of styles proved irresistible to extreme-music fans. Roughly a year later, when the single "Obscene Charade" appeared on Bandcamp, metal press outlets were already covering the band. That same year they quickly issued another cassette, the four-song, one-sided Inhabit the Corpse, which likewise sold out at once. Late in the year Relapse, long known for documenting rock's outer edges, signed the group and assembled all prior material into the eight-track, 23-minute Manifestations, which Arthur Rizk (Sumerlands, Power Trip) remixed and remastered; the compilation appeared in 2018. Festival dates outside Philadelphia introduced Devil Master's manic, ferocious yet lighthearted stage show and incendiary sound to crowds who responded with immediate enthusiasm. At the end of the year Relapse placed the band in a Philadelphia studio with Rizk to track their raw, lo-fi debut full-length Satan Spits on Children of Light, which expanded their cross-genre approach with elements of mutant surf and gothic rock while centering lyrics of misanthropic humor and spiritual warfare; the album was released in March 2019 during an ongoing tour.
Albums
Ecstasies Of Never Ending Night
2022
Shrines in Cinder
2022
The Vigour of Evil
2022
Satan Spits on Children of Light
2019
Manifestations
2018
Singles
