Worm: Necropalace
Phantom Slaughter, the mastermind behind Worm, has always been drawn to the darker side of life. His music, a blend of black metal and doom, is a reflection of his fascination with vampires and the concept of eternal isolation. In a recent interview, Slaughter discussed the inspiration behind his latest album, Necropalace, and the journey that has brought him to where he is today. Slaughter's musical journey began at a young age, watching his guitarist father play ZZ Top riffs at home. He later discovered Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" at a laser-tag arena, which blew his mind and set him on a path of exploring extreme music. In his late teens, he discovered the documentary Until the Light Takes Us, which explored the violent early '90s Norwegian black-metal scene. This led him to delve deeper into the world of black metal, scouring blogs for obscure demos and interviews with cult figures like Emperor's Ihsahn and Darkthrone's Fenriz. As he dug deeper, Slaughter realized that many black-metal projects were being put together by solitary artists. This DIY spirit intrigued him, and he decided to follow a similar path. He christened himself Phantom Slaughter and forged ahead with Worm on his own. "I shut everything out around me," he recalls of Worm's genesis. "I had friends at that time, but they would slowly start to wither. I was 19 or 20, and everyone started going to bars. It was more important to me to stay in and work on the Worm demo. Every time I went out, I was like, 'This is a waste of time. I'd rather just be making music in my room.'" Slaughter's musical journey has not been without its challenges. He taught himself to play guitar and synthesizer, and even bought a drum set to blast through Worm's first demo, The Deep Dark Earth Underlies All. "I was terrible at it," he admits of his primitive percussive skills. "But with the black-metal ideology, you can do anything. There's no roadblocks. Ignorance is bliss!" As Worm's reputation spread, Slaughter began bringing in other players to help tighten up the project's sound. Drummer Equimanthorn joined for 2017's Evocation of the Black Marsh, while guitarist Nihilistic Manifesto added solos to Foreverglade, Worm's first release through 20 Buck Spin. The latest album, Necropalace, marks a new chapter in Worm's history. The album features a guest appearance by Marty Friedman, the ex-Megadeth shredder, on the epic 14-minute finale "Witchmoon: The Infernal Masquerade." Slaughter notes that Megadeth's Rust in Peace was stuck in the CD player of his first car, and he took a chance and asked Friedman to contribute to the album. Friedman came through and delivered a flurry of extra melodies across the track. "I get to sing over a Marty Friedman lick," he says with wonder. "It's the coolest thing in the world." Necropalace is a testament to Slaughter's growth as a musician and a person. The album's crunching, lovelorn sound is a reflection of his fascination with vampires and the concept of eternal isolation. As Worm continues to expand, with new bandmates, high-profile guests, and tours to come in 2026, Slaughter's life looks less lonely than it once did. "Through this, I've found genuinely good people that actually care about me — and not just in a musical sense," he says, adding that his goal now is to "keep this band alive as long as I possibly can."
