Taylor Swift's Music Slowed Down 500 Percent Is an Exercise in Terror

It sounds like some kind of monster squad of doom chanting for your quick and untimely demise, and after you hear it you’re going to be convinced that T-Swizzle is the grim reaper herself, demanding that you “shake off” your soul and hand it over before you begin your descent into hell.

Mark Blackwell has taken the video of one of Swift’s recent live performances and slowed it down 500 percent, giving “Shake It Off” the terrifying old-timey horror movie treatment it deserves. And while other slowed-down experiments have resulted in accidental beauty (here is a modem), nothing about this performance is remotely pretty. It could be played at an impromptu human sacrifice and no one would bat an eye, and for a second you may actually think you’re listening to Diamanda Galas’ Plague Mass (specifically the beginning of “This Is the Law Of the Plague”) before realizing that the voice is too low and the instrumentals a little too somber.

And best of all? It’s 19 minutes long. So if you’re sad that Taylor’s albums have exited Spotify and don’t know how to download them via torrent, this dismal soundscape may just be the soundtrack you need for your sorrow. (It’s also fitting because it sounds a little like cows singing and you know Taylor probably thinks cows are adorable.)

Image via Getty