Terror Parade
Confront the Darkness Within on ‘The Exorcist’
Terror Parade have never shied away from the theatrical, but with ‘The Exorcist’ they tap into something far more unsettling than surface-level horror. Beneath the makeup, distortion, and high-octane performance lies a meditation on the darkness we carry with us, the idea that some things cannot be expelled, only understood. Originally conceived in fragments back in 2015 and reborn a decade later, the track represents both a sonic and philosophical evolution for the band. We caught up with Terror Parade to unpack the track’s deeper meaning, the painstaking process behind its production, and how it captures the raw intensity of their live show.
The Exorcist dives into themes of possession, but also something deeper, the idea that we cannot escape what is already inside us. Can you unpack the meaning behind the track and how that concept developed?
Yes it's just the whole thing that we go on this journey called life we experience the good the bad and the evil, and once these experiences are imbedded in our memory they can never be exorcised
There is a compelling twist in the narrative where the exorcist becomes the source of evil. What does that say about trust, control, and internal struggle in the context of the song?
It says that no one can be fully trusted even if they hold a position of power in the community, everyone has an evil side it's just some are better at controlling it
This track has roots going back to 2015 before being reshaped in 2025. Can you walk us through that journey and how the song evolved musically and lyrically over time?
The riff came from an old song in 2015 which we don't play anymore. The lyrics excluding the chorus which is new came from a song I wrote back in 2015, that song was ok but it never really felt like a finished song so we shelved it. So it was a combination of two old songs with a new chorus
Sonically, The Exorcist feels like a more refined extension of your earlier work. How does it reflect Terror Parade’s growth over the past decade?
We really wanted to make this song the best production that we have ever done, thus we went back to the studio three times to get the vocal right
It has been a learning curve for us and I feel we just get better at it as we go along
The key for us is being super prepared before we go into the studio. We spend a lot of time producing our own demo tracks which really helps our producer understand what we are trying to achieve
You worked again with Kalen Austin on production. What did he bring to this track, and were there any standout moments or challenges during recording, particularly with the vocals?
The recording of the music went really well, but when it came to the vocal the first version came out slightly distorted so we basically had to redo it
After that we were not happy with the first verse so we ended up doing it a further two times, it was a tough one
What was the vision behind keeping the video for ‘The Exorcist’ raw and performance driven, and how does it reflect the true Terror Parade Horror Rock Show experience?
Normally our videos tell a story and have a lot of different scenes, so this time around we wanted to show the fans what they will get at a Terror Parade live show
High energy and a full in your face performance — makeup, costumes, everything we do on stage is what you see
Catch them live at Greaser Bar, Brisbane on the 1st of May to get this Exorcism happening! w/
@twistedlullaby
@flamboyant_nightmare
