Vessel of Light are a doom metal band that sings about true crime because the Christian in their founding duo asked his Satanist counterpart to avoid the devil. If that doesn’t make you intrigued, perhaps you don’t have a soul. With no shortage of inspiration, Vessel of Light have dropped an LP annually since their 2017 formation and eponymous EP. That makes Last Ride their third full-length and fourth release overall, and you can listen to it early exclusively below.
Nathan Opposition (the Satanist) recalls listening to the likes of Sleep, Electric Wizard and Eyehategod growing up. Indeed, all those acts shine through here, as well as even more classic fare such as Black Sabbath and Candlemass. It’s a far cry from the thrashing sound that made bandmate Dan Lorenzo a household name in Hades. That band name makes his religious transformation hit extra hard, but the feeling remains the same as when he released the first of 19 albums he’s put out thus far. He recalls opening for Slayer the night before Hades’ Resisting Success dropped in 1987,
“On the way home we heard one of our songs on a major radio station. I KNEW we were going to be ‘rich and famous’ like our labelmates Exodus! [laughs] You’d think I’d learn, but I am so fucking excited about Vessel of Light’s Last Ride. Even though not a lot of people pay for music anymore and half the country are afraid to leave their homes, I STILL feel like if enough people took the time to listen to a couple of our songs a few times— well, let’s just say I’m as excited today as I was in 1987. Last Ride is really heavy, yet really catchy. I love doom metal, but I have a child’s attention span, so there are no long meandering songs.”
Opposition may not have released as many LPs in his lifetime, but he feels similarly enthusiastic.
“Last Ride is a banger of an album! Hit after hit, jam after jam, riff after riff, it’s definitely our most comprehensive performance to date. We haven’t been a band for long, but it feels and sounds like we’ve been together forever; everything really makes sense. The band’s sound combined with my grim storytelling makes for a terrifyingly good time!”
Despite the horrific content, Vessel of Light DO have a hopeful message that the divided world could learn from. Their ability to function despite drastically different comes down to the fact they focus on commonalities.
“We can have a difference of opinion or ideal and still be friends as long as you don’t cross certain guidelines of convictions that I have,” highlights Opposition, whose chosen surname is particularly amusing in this context. “Friends don’t have to be clones of each other to get along. We are all individuals, that’s what this music scene is all about.”
Fortunately, we can all agree on the riffs on Last Ride, which you can jam below.
Vessel of Light’s Last Ride is out tomorrow, October 23, on Nomad Eel Records. Pre-order it on CD, cassette or digital. The band also has made-to-order merch.
