Most often it’s black metallers who don’t want their identities known. In most cases, they go by noms de guerre and hope lips don’t slip when they tour or encounter blog-friendly press. Well, for Pittsburgh-based trio Deathwhite, they don’t want their names or noms de guerre known. In fact, the lineup for the press release to Deathwhite’s debut album, For a Black Tomorrow, simply states “N/A.” But the names of Deathwhite aren’t important. Their music is. That’s how they want it, and that’s how it’ll be.
Deathwhite, a previously unknown entity, plays along the same melancholic lines as Rapture, Katatonia, and Ghost Brigade (now on hiatus). The dissonant chords of mid-period Katatonia are evident, as are the solitary melodic lines of Rapture, and the lonesome vocals of Ghost Brigade permeate the trio’s ever-blue layers. Of course, Deathwhite aren’t simply a copy of their apparent influences. There’s a directness here that differs from their Euro counterparts. There’s a songwriting sense that also feels less wayward than their EU peers. The Steel City trio just lay it out there. They’re not a happy bunch, it appears, both in their despondent music and woebegone lyrics.
To wit, the band says: “The last song we composed for the For a Black Tomorrow album, ‘The Grace of the Dark’ features one of our more melancholic riffs that is combined with outside instrumentation, i.e. keyboards, which marks a first for Deathwhite. We felt so strongly about the song upon its completion that we felt it had to be lead-off track on the album. And lyrically, it tells the story of someone who only finds solace in the darkest and quietest of places…”
If Mondays are manic, then Tuesdays are traumatic. Enjoy Deathwhite’s sonic trauma in “The Grace of the Dark.”
** Deathwhite’s new album, For a Black Tomorrow, is out February 23 on Season of Mist Records. Pre-orders are available at this LINK. For fans of Katatonia, Rapture, Ghost Brigade, and Daylight Dies.
