Review: “Prophecies of Eternal Horror” by Highgate

Seven long years after they released a cover of the Darkthrone classic “The Hordes of Nebula” it seems the hills still have eyes for Florence Kentucky Blackened Sludge Doom trio Highgate. As a band they released their first three albums and a split, all of which muse on themes of apocalypse, nuclear war, drugs and suicide, during a six year period between 2008 and 2014 before turning their calloused hands to other projects including like Ancient Slab, Maggot Casket, Slag, Impia and Sarnath. If their was a light at the end of the tunnel for long time fans it seemed to fade with the tragic passing of former guitarist and bassist Shawn Kirst in 2022 but the truth is often stranger than fiction and vocalist Greg Brown and drummer Steve Porter alongside guitarist and bassist Jamie Porter had other plans.

They say it pays to expect the unexpected but nothing can truly prepare you for the abject horror of “Terraforming Hell“, the first half of this gargantuan, near ten minute magnum opus of a track is like watching a Barosaurus trudge through a tar pit in the late Jurassic age. A fleeting moment of acoustic guitar soaked in feedback gets things started before the low and slow, down tuned depravity strips all the paint from the walls. At the halfway point someone pushes the insanity button and bedlam follows as the trio burst into the flames with of Blackened Punk and the tempo shifts in skull splitting fashion. That is however short lived as with the shrill cries of Brown, things drop to a crawling pace which feels like walking on broken glass, the pain of the lyrical narrative indicative of a need for a straight jacket and mind bending drugs. While they’re bleak and harrowing it has to be said that the tempo shifts are masterfully worked, their seamless nature something achieved seemingly against all the odds and when your ears stop bleeding you’re going to want to check out the lyric sheet.

Shorter but no sharper “Death Comes” has flavours of bands like EYEHATEGOD with a Southern drawl over Sludge Metal rhythmic patterns making you want to drink whiskey long into the night. The soloing is tasteful, very much in keeping with the primitive surroundings, the music food for the soul and the lyrical narrative far more intelligent than anyone will give it credit for. The politically charged and socially aware “At Paranoia’s Poison Door” continues the weighty, slow riffs fit for worship in style, the underlying narrative of the government brainwashing the nation and making them too scared to think for themselves an interesting and unsettling one. The oppressive Funeral Doom has a message underneath the sheer sonic weight of droning riffs, the only question being if it can be found before the sun goes cold, the tormented vocals arguably being the most disturbing part.

The influence of Jello Biafra is felt on the brutal “Deceiver” with what feels like a ring masters megaphone call to arms on a track that lowers the beats per minute so much it will make you wonder if you overdosed on beta blockers. Make no mistake, it takes serious levels of musicianship to create this kind of slow, brooding atmospheric darkness and the black smoke that the band create is impressive, their calloused hands turning everything they touch to fire and ash. A distorted spoken word introduction to “The Writhing Dawn” sounds like a news broadcast from the late 1970’s being received by a fractured transmitter, the ominous atmosphere unrelenting as the trio pull on the last remaining threads of the listeners sanity once more. All in all a blisteringly painful slow burn for those in a sedated Doom Metal head space [7/10]

Track Listing

1. Terraforming Hell
2. Death Comes
3. At Paranoia’s Poison Door
4. Deceiver
5. The Writhing Dawn

“Prophecies of Eternal Horror” by Highgate is out on 27th March 2026 via Horror Pain Gore Death Productions and is available over at bandcamp