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ACID MASS
Worship

Morbid And Miserable / Vicious Witch / Motorpunk (2024)
Rating: 8.5/10

Last year’s debut outing, Agonizer, was a big forward step for Acid Mass creator Ben Ricketts and I’m rather surprised that the Cincinnati, Ohio-based multi-instrumentalist has returned so quickly, especially when one considers that earlier this year he released the Under The Knife EP.

Ricketts has such a passion and faith in his own ability and that shines through once again with this sophomore album. As snappy as the debut, Worship continues the theme of nifty blackness while also serving up some very catchy riffs which hook straight into the brain. The vocals continue to reverberate in a nasty fashion and there’s an instant zip as the venomous ‘The Mouth Of Hell’ unravels.

With countless bands trying to mimic the old school thrash style, I can confidently state that Acid Mass has it covered. Raw and organic, tracks such as ‘Hell From Above’ chug with a stinking menace that with hints of Venom, and Bulldozer belongs on an early Speed Kills compilation. The same can also be said for demonic speed metal heap ‘Inferno Queen’ and the slightly more measured ‘Nuclear Exorcism’.

Believe me, this isn’t your standard pile of rust bucket metal. Listen to the brilliant ‘Return To Shadow Moses’ and succumb to the atmosphere Acid Mass creates as solos wildly permeate the air and drums clatter like wrought iron gates blown by black sooty winds. However, the best is saved for last with the ominous ‘Dying Breath’, an utterly doom laden landscape of leaden skies rumbling to the sound of traipsing riffage commanded by the snarling vocal outbursts.

Acid Mass has succeeded in brandishing old school values as if they were a torch of everlasting flame bringing a fiery glow to a world of gloom. Worship is excellent spitting heavy metal from Hell.

Neil Arnold

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