Bands like Gojira and Godflesh might be major brand names ‘round these parts, but mention them to your average Metallica-loving broseph and you’re likely to get a squinty-eyed, the-fuck-you-say? half-nod. But Decibel just won’t quit. We dig deeper, danker, darker and dirtier (though rarely fitter or happier) to turn up a few otherwise overlooked gems. While Throw Me a Frickin’ Bone lays it out all hard-copy-like, every Friday the Deciblog brings you the stealthiest bandcampiest demos, EPs, singles, one-offs, full-lengths, and start-up acts that catch our attention with Frickin’ Bone 2.0: Bonin’ the Interhole.
I need to buy a plane ticket to the land down under. Like, now. Based on the music I hear coming out of that deranged Pacific continent, I imagine black skies unlit by a dripping red sun, leafless gray trees draped with slaughtered koalas, and incorporeal wraiths fading in and out of the mortal plane to terrorize any humans crazy enough to live, work, or travel through such a country. TV wildlife specials and steakhouse chains be damned! Anyplace it would take me almost a day to fly to had better be as extreme as the above description.
New ghoul-conjurors Dead River Runs Dry add to the bleak horrors rising from the Australian hellscape. They rot ears with a familiar brew of blackened hatred, and it’s expertly realized. For now, you can hear their four demo tracks at their Bandcamp page. Continued recording has been promised. You’ve been warned. Read more for some insight into the ensuing Aussie destruction.
Dead River Runs Dry members have been active in a lot of other projects. Can you describe how they led you to working in Dead River Runs Dry?
We’ve all known each other for some time due to our involvement in various Australian bands and figured it was time to collaborate in this configuration. So far it’s worked out well and we’re pleased with it. Other projects we’ve been in are readily discoverable but Dead River Runs Dry represents a different focus to them. It is an entity of its own.
How was the demo material written?
I wrote the material in the space of a week and sent it to the others for their input. There was no ‘grand plan’ other than I couldn’t ignore what had inadvertently been tapped into. Given the experience and more importantly, the nature of the other members, I’d be a fool to deny their contributions and the material is stamped with them.
What ideas were influencing the music and lyrics?
Themes such as misanthropy, desolation and bleak, ruthless hatred are common in our material. Any musical or lyrical reference to “positivity” or “glory” is an imagining of potential or a glimpse into personal experiences – gnosis or reverence if you prefer. It remains brief because the reality is that such things won’t last. A lot of anger comes from seeing the potential for an altered existence and due to constraints, shackles and the position that we as mere humans chained to this reality find ourselves in, are in many ways powerless to do anything about other than extracting what we can from our own insights and applying it to our own paradigms.
How/where were the songs recorded?
Drums, guitars and bass were recorded in a home studio called Scabby Road with the combined forces of myself and my friend Mat Taylor. Vocals were invoked from the void by Murmur via correspondence. One thing I learnt from the sessions was that we respond well to pressure. We were against the clock (aren’t we always?!) and that added element of stress helped yield the results you can hear on the recordings. I like that way of doing things because you tend to not over think things to the absolute. Only spontaneity is real!
What other bands are exciting you right now? Anything unusual having an impact on your music or mindset?
This a band whose members for some time have all involved themselves in various paths, practices and explorations so at this point we’re not sure what constitutes unusual in the ‘normal’ sense…one thing we can all agree on is that there’s enough fire to sate our collective appetites in regards to Dead River Runs Dry’s output, if you know where to burn. That’s a vague answer I know, but it’s something I don’t really like to discuss too openly because I think it reeks of desperation when bands try to overwhelm you with whatever they’re into. Which isn’t to say I couldn’t do that if I wanted to. Fark! How cryptic!
As for bands – lately I’ve into releases by Swans, Mongrels Cross, Blut aus Nord, Leviathan, Rowland S. Howard, Karjalan Sissit, Ben Frost’s “By the Throat” album, Edward Artemiev’s soundtracks for Tarkovsky and Bleakwood among many, many others. Readers would benefit from checking out Paroxysmal Descent, Order of Orias, Greed & Rapacity, The Veil, Denouncement Pyre, Nocturnal Graves, Impetuous fucking Ritual, Cauldron Black Ram and Stargazer if they’ve not already, of course. Those last two I mentioned feature members of Mournful Congregation and it’s definitely worth your time to listen to any project that has their collective or individual input on it.
Is a full-length recording on the way?
There’s enough material for an album and we’re planning on recording it at the end of this year. Maybe a split release as well.
What path does Dead River Runs Dry take from here?
The one less travelled.
