Kicking off with a gospel inspired vocal harmony makes a statement. It happens in hip hop, particularly when artists like FlyLo are involved. Thundercat is a bassist, but broader part of that beat scene.
In this case, the gospel leads into a squelchy, dense soundscape, menacing yet majestic.
The song is about a descent into madness while everything else in the world collapses. Perhaps telling that it was written soon after Trump took the White House…
That also goes some ways to explain the paranoid texture of the track, and the craziness of the drums.
“Inferno” came out in 2017 on Drunk, Thundercat’s 3rd album.