AN NCS INTERVIEW: DUSK

(December 2023 brought us a new album by Dusk, one of the true cult doom bands from the ’90s, and it proved to be a tremendous full-length return to form, 28 years after their debut album. We proudly premiered a video for one of the new songs last year, and now follow that with Comrade Aleks‘ interview of Dusk co-founder Steve Crane – with apologies to the two of them for how long it took us to publish this.)

Back in the early ’90s, the North American death-doom scene was neither diverse nor rich. The bands that made this music in this period can be counted on one hand, but the first among them would be Avernus, Evoken, Morgion, Winter, and Dusk. Each band has its own history, and as for Dusk, they lasted only five years from their formation in 1995, leaving behind the now cult full-length …Majestic Thou in Ruin and a couple of smaller releases.

Somehow the band managed to reunite in 2015 with an almost entirely original lineup, only changing the drummer: Tim Beyer (guitars, keyboards), Steve Gross (keyboards, guitars), Steve Crane (vocals, bass) and Sean Smith (drums). Dusk recorded a mini-album Withdraw in 2018 and laid low for a while. It was a question of time, and now the second full-length album, Dissolve into Ash, was released in December 2023.

It would seem that there is no point in comparing the works of the band that are 28 years apart, but the updated Dusk is rooted in the ’90s. There are no questions regarding genre affiliation; this is harsh, tightly-knit, but still atmospheric death-doom. The death metal influences are still clear, the signature clanging riffs are still there, the occasional weightless interludes provide an interesting contrast, and overall, Dissolve into Ash sounds as if the gap between albums had actually been five times shorter. Professional growth, technically impeccable performance, and, of course, higher recording quality are evident.

There is a guest vocalist, Dana. You can hear her voice in four of the eight songs. Her vocals were put carefully through the record to saturate the doomy abstractions of Dusk with elegant nuances. At the same time, growling bass-guitarist Steve Crane has grown as a vocalist. He consciously worked to improve his skills, feeling that he had lost them over the years, and succeeded.

I would also like to note that, in addition to new songs, the album includes a re-recorded version of the ancient treasure “An Aerial View”, previously released only as part of the split between Dusk and Aphotic.

Dissolve into Ash is the best gift for doom fans yearning for the ’90s, feeding melancholy for bygone times, and making a strong impression even in isolation from the history of the band. We talked with Steve Crane in December, and here’s the result of this conversation.

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Hi Steve! How are you doing? What’s going on in Dusk?

Hello! Things are going great, our new album will be out in just a few days now. Our album is available on Dark Symphonies Records on CD and Vinyl. Also, for those interested, there is a cassette version being released by Dread Records as well.

 

The band celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, what were your milestones along the way?

We have played a lot of shows with tons of famous bands, but I would say the highlight for us was playing Maryland Deathfest in 2018. It’s also very cool for us that our 1995 release …Majestic thou in Ruin has been hailed by some as a classic death-doom release. For all of the amazing releases out there it’s a very humbling and fulfilling feeling. We are also so thankful to our fans for keeping us relevant for the last 30 years!

 

Do you plan any special events? Or a Dissolve into Ash release show at least?

Yes, we have just finished up playing a couple Wisconsin festivals and we are planning on doing at least one album release show early next year.

 

Was it easy to organize your participation in the festivals? Did you do it yourself or do you deal with a booking agency?

Festivals are usually well organized, so dealing with festival organizers is not too bad. Yes, we do it ourselves and we are always looking to book shows; so hit us up!

 

How would you compare your experience of playing live with Dusk back in the ’90s and nowadays?

The equipment we use now is a lot better and we have lights and better sound now. However, once we are up there playing it feels the same.

 

By the way did you know those few rare American doom bands in the ’90s personally? Avrigus, Morgion, Shroud of Bereavement?

Actually we didn’t really know any of those bands personally and the ones we did “know” were by mail correspondence. We didn’t have the opportunity to play with these great bands back in the old days unfortunately.

 

Dusk’s first album …Majestic Thou in Ruin was re-released twice in 2018. Didn’t you think to prepare its anniversary edition? Or to perform a few shows with Aphotic?

Actually, we never put any thought into putting out an anniversary edition. We just wanted to give our fans another option to have a physical copy of …Majestic because at this time the CD was very expensive online, selling for well over $100. And having The Crypt Vinyl put the album on vinyl was very exciting to a lot of fans and the band as well. As far as Aphotic is concerned, Steve Gross has confirmed that that project is officially over and he won’t be revisiting any old material and is focusing all of his energy on Dusk at this time.

 

 

You, Tim Beyer, and Steve Gross resurrected Dusk in 2015, and Sean Smith joined you later in 2018. What motivated you to return Dusk back to life?

When we originally got back together, we had all of the original members, including Shimron Heemstra on drums. Shimron played a few shows with us but unfortunately for personal reasons he was not able to continue with playing with Dusk. We were already confirmed for Maryland Deathfest and were in need of a drummer. We were fortunate to have Sean Smith join the band. Sean is highly respected as a musician and a soundman in our area. He was running sound for one of our shows and he thought we were really heavy. It was a natural union, and one that I could not be happier about. He’s an amazing musician and a true friend to me.

As far as Dusk returning to form, this was due to our material getting reissued and there was a new interest in the band and a lot of people were asking us to get back together and play again. I personally never thought we would write another full-length, but here we are; and I couldn’t be more stoked about it.

 

You recorded the new EP Withdraw in 2018, and there wasn’t news from the band until now. What slowed you down?

We released Withdraw and actually played a few very successful shows. Following that we actually went on tour with the Legendary Master and Claustrophobia in 2019. Obviously, we hit a snag when the pandemic struck and everything got weird and shut down. We were already in writing mode and had a few new song ideas down. But since everything was getting shut down we had the idea to write the best material we could come up with and really we just focused on the songs. Since we weren’t on a time limit and there was no pressure or stress related to writing new songs. We used all of the world’s doom during that time for inspiration.

 

How long did you record Dissolve into Ash? What kind of obstacles did you meet along the way to this release?

We recorded all of the songs ourselves at Tim’s studio and Sean recorded all of his drum tracks at his home. It didn’t take that long to record once we decided to record the songs. We worked very hard to have the release sound as heavy as possible, more like our live shows. We had a few issues along the way but luckily, we found David Pietila at SourceTrack Studio to master the release. He did a great job with it and worked very hard to try to keep the sound true to Dusk.

I personally was never happy with my vocals since the band got back together. I worked really hard to get my vocal style more aggressive and natural sounding, kind of like the old releases. I think for hardcore fans of Dusk the vocal style change will be evident, hopefully for the better.

 

How did you train your vocals to reach the necessary effect?

This is a funny story. I was struggling to achieve the proper volume for recording and live shows.

So when we were recording the vocal tracks for the latest album Tim Beyer said to me, “Don’t worry about how it sounds just try to get the volume to where we can hear it down the street. I know you have really good kids but just imagine being really mad at your kids and yelling at them.” For whatever reason that advice stuck and next thing you know I had the volume and aggressiveness back that I was struggling to find. So for that I am very thankful.

 

 

You re-recorded the song ‘An Aerial View’ which originally appeared in the split-release with Aphotic in 2005. Did you use some other old themes or ideas in Dissolve into Ash?

No, we didn’t, we just thought it was proper to rework this song a little. It is a band favorite and with Dana joining the band it really came together well.

 

How much of old Dusk from the ’90s do you see in Dissolve into Ash?

We tried to stay true to our roots with this material and at the same time maybe usher in a brand of the band that seemed natural and aggressive. This approach might appeal to new fans who have never heard or listened to the band before.

 

Was it easy to catch the old-school vibe? And did you search for special equipment in order to achieve the right sound?

Yes, we worked tirelessly to achieve a certain improved guitar tone and certain drum tones and the biggest bass tone possible. The guitars use the Fractal processor and I actually used it for my bass as well for the recording.

 

There are female vocals in the songs ‘Beacon Obscured’, ‘The Dim Divide’, ‘Libations Offered’, and they work well with the songs, enriching the album’s atmosphere. Did you plan to use more new elements in the new songs?

In addition to these songs, Dana also sings on “An Aerial View” on this album. She is extremely talented and an integral part of this band moving forward. Everything we do is basically birthed out of a natural progression. Her performances with the band are amazing and we were just looking for more ways to use her talent and she has written some very creepy and hauntingly beautiful atmospheric parts. So it seemed natural to incorporate her more in the new material.

 

And lyrics-wise you keep the vibe similar to …Majestic Thou in Ruin, isn’t it? How natural was it for you to return to the states like those?

I haven’t really thought about the lyrical style being similar to Majestic but it was pretty natural to come up with lyrics for Dissolve into Ash, except for a few parts where I had writer’s block. Luckily, that was short lived.

 

 

…Majestic Thou in Ruin is a kind of cult underground record well-known among doom metal fans. Today is another epoch, everything is far from 1995. So, what are your expectations for the new release?

We just want to get the word out that we are back and ready to play. We just hope our fans like the new material as much as we do!

 

What are your further plans for Dusk? Do you have any gigs planned or you aren’t interested in gigs?

We are also hoping to get to Europe for some festivals and tour, and possibly do another USA tour soon. Hit us up if you are interested in having Dusk play in your area.

 

Sounds good, almost ambiguous! Thank for the interview Steve and good luck with Dusk! Do you have a few more words for our readers?

Thanks for your time and interest in Dusk. We are thankful for the good amount of positive feedback we have received on the new material so far. We hope to get out and play a lot more than we had in the past and hopefully will meet some old and new friends on the road. Cheers!

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