Folk and roots music artists have always been singing about the devil or the darker side of our existence, we all know how Robert Johnson sold his soul at the crossroads, but in the end good always prevails over evil. Jesus is lord and God can be an asshole from time to time, but when you need him the most he’ll be there is what seems to be the general message in most of these “spiritual” songs. How you deal with this is your own personal choice.
Then there are the murder ballads, but even here the bad guy still is the bad guy and gets what he deserves in the end.
But not all artists in todays roots or folk scene walk that righteous path. As for many the devil is an inspiration to write songs, for some it is a way of life…
Chicago born Darren Deicide is one of these rare specimen. Bluesman, lindyhop dance instructor and Satanist. Darren is a warlock in the Church of Satan and spokesman for the organization. Now before you get all scared and start hiding your children in fear of them being sacrificed to the horned one down below, relax, it’s not what you think. I have been looking into Darren and he seems to be a really nice and intelligent human being walking his own path in live. And furthermore he’s a great musician! I contacted Darren to see if he was OK that I mentioned him in this article and he was more than fine with it. In the near future we’ll do an interview with him and a review of his new 7″.
At first you would think his music has nothing to do with Satan or Satanism, it’s not black metal folks… But if you really listen to it and know a little about the COS you can clearly hear what’s it all about. His music sounds dark, maybe blasphemous, but even if you don’t agree with his way of thinking, I assure you that his songs will make you dance. With nothing more than a guitar and a stomp box he’ll take you on a wild ride to hell and back (this phrase is totally justified here!).
King Dude aka T.J. Cowgill from Seattle is not your average folk musician, his music can be labeled more neo-folk than anything else, but I still think he fits this piece. “Pagan-fueled folk wrapped tight with outsider Americana” as he describes it himself is about as close it will get. He has a long history in black and death metal, but that alone is not why he’s featured here. He’s a Luciferean and very open about it.
He recently was crowned ambassador of the Greater Church of Lucifer and is very proud of this. While he was spreading wisdom and light with his music, he now also can marry people in Luciferian weddings. He recently toured Europe and as expected I could not make it to any of his shows. One day I hope to be present for one of his performances If you like dark, doomed filled folk music check out his albums and gaze into the dark abyss he creates.
Amigo The Devil, while I know nothing about Danny Kiranos’ spiritual walk of live, fits perfect in this write-up. Why you ask? Well, because where most murder ballads seem to end badly in the end for the perpetrator Danny often writes from their point of view and this makes his songs extremely dark and intense. When you listen to “The Recluse” (about Ed Gein) you can almost feel him stalking you in a dark alley before he wears your skin as a three-piece suit. Or just take a listen to “Dahmer does Hollywood”, this banjo driven song, with its amazing clever lyrics, will send shivers down your spine.
disclaimer: (the website) Old Style Music Nights is not connected to any religion, cult, church or whatever… Thank you.
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Outstanding write-up! I’ve had a hideously obsessive man-crush on Amigo the Devil ever since meeting Danny and his lady at last year’s SouthWest Terror Fest. I will definitely be checking these other guys out!
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