(New Jersey-based Dead and Dripping has created macabre musical intersections of sounds that are ghastly, putrid, bludgeoning, and malicious, but also machine-precise, head-spinning, and dazzling – in a very demented way. Their new album will be released tomorrow by Transcending Obscurity Records, and that provided the impetus for Zoltar to reach out for the following interview with D&D’s mainman Evan Daniele.)
There are fucked up death metal bands. And there are REALLY fucked up death metal bands. Dead And Dripping defo deserves to be on the latter top list. Initially ‘just’ a solo project by Sentient Horror’s Evan Daniele who’s never hidden his love of death metal the brutal way, one could have easily expected the result to be on the same basic-and-brOOtal wave-length as, say, Putrid Pile or Insidious Decrepancy, just to cite two early 00s prime examples of one-man-brutality.
But as soon as his debut – first digitally, then on CD format through France’s Percussive Spectre – Profane Verses Of Murderous Rhetoric dropped, we realized that as in Matrix, instead of choosing between the blue or the red pill, Daniele went for both and thus, opened a doorway to some psychedelic, twisted, and, well, truly fucked up parallel universe. And if you thought his first three albums sounded like Demilich or Timeghoul heavily tripping on acid through a brutal death metal vortex, wait until you hear the new one, Nefarious Scintillations.
Turn on, tune in, drop out, and get blasted.
Hey Evan! In Dead And Dripping, you’re handling all instruments. Was it first out of necessity or was it a conscious choice?
This was out of necessity. At the time when I was starting the project, I just didn’t really know any musicians who were into brutal death metal. Recording the first demo was also the first time I had actually tracked anything on my own at home (except the drums, which were recorded at Backroom Studios in NJ). I was a little uncertain at first but I did a few trial recordings and ultimately decided to run the risk of it turning out a little shitty and just go for it.
What was your very first instrument? Would you say that you are first and foremost a drummer?
My first instrument was guitar, which I started playing at age nine. I’d say I’m probably most versatile on drums, but I can’t really choose which instrument I most identify with. I love playing bass also, though it’s probably the instrument I play least proficiently.
Would you say that Anal Exorcism – with whom you released one album in 2016 and where you’re handling everything but the vocals – was some kind of training on how to do things by yourself, and thus, allowed you to do Dead And Dripping ?
Yes – that wasn’t by design, but that is how it worked out. I did end up figuring out how to write death metal by working on that project, and I’m very appreciative of my friend Jake (vocalist of AE) for making it possible. Some of the core influences were missing around this time (namely the more brutal ones like Cerebral Effusion) but writing for AE kinda served as an early blueprint for writing weird, extreme music. Nobody really listened to that album when it came out, and the lack of attention helped me relinquish any fear of how my work might be received. Nobody really cares, so just put it out there and see what happens.
Originally, Dead And Dripping was regarded as your way of paying tribute to Demilich. Was it the case back then or was there more to it than ‘just’ a tribute?
Demilich was definitely an influence early on, but the project was initially inspired by bands like Cryptopsy, Cerebral Effusion, Gorgasm, and Devourment. I think the Demilich influence has actually become more prominent over time, but I feel it’s not as detectable in the early material. The project really just began as my first proper foray into brutal death metal, a subgenre with which I had become obsessed and wanted to try my hand at. I always wanted to write music that was simultaneously disgusting and bizarre, and this seemed like the perfect vehicle.
Apart from being released less than a year apart and their common artworks, your first two albums are regarded by some as the two sides of the coin or, at least, heavily linked. How true is that statement?
That’s fairly true, though I do feel there’s a significant progression between the two records. I had actually recorded the drums for the first album back in 2018, two years before its release, but I didn’t record the remaining parts until 2020 due to some hectic life stuff. Both albums feel like they’ve lain the groundwork for what’s currently happening with D&D with the first having free-flowing song structures and more brutality, and the second leaning more into rhythmic complexity as well as both melody and dissonance.
When did you realize that Dead And Dripping grew out, so to speak, of its initial and maybe a tad limited purpose and became an actual ‘proper’ project/band?
The first full-length definitely began a more serious trajectory, but I think Blackened Cerebral Rifts was a real turning point. It was the first release on a label (shoutout to Kunal and Transcending Obscurity), and creatively it represented the sound I’d been trying to achieve since I started writing death metal. In regards to becoming an actual band, I contacted Nikhil (AnalStabwound, 5,431 other bands) about playing drums after realizing he was located not too far from me. He’s obviously insane on every instrument, and I felt his drumming would be a perfect fit. I met TJ through our mutual involvement in OSDM band Sentient Horror, and I thought his bass playing was fucking sick. Both guys enthusiastically agreed to be involved, and while we’ve only played a couple shows together so far we will be more active in the coming year. I’ve always wanted to play the material live and I’m very grateful to these dudes for making it possible.
Since it’s impossible to rely on the classic ‘let’s jam in rehearsals with the other lads and see how it goes’ technique, how does one compose music when he’s supposed to do everything by himself? How do you start? With a guitar riff? A drum pattern?
For pretty much all the material up to this point, my writing process has consisted of getting stoned and sitting in front of my computer with my guitar for a while. As riffs come to me I enter them into GuitarPro (for those unaware, a tablature-based MIDI editing software) which allows me to easily keep record of ideas and song structures. This also makes it very easy to edit parts, move things around, and try riffs at different tempos. Usually it starts with a riff, but occasionally a song will start with a drum part. I always intend to write more songs based on drum parts because I find the results are often interesting, but I tend to write guitar parts pretty obsessively and it’s going to take some time to work through all the material that’s currently stockpiled.
Do you think Dead And Dripping is so full of rhythm changes and weird structures because you’re, first of all, a drummer and thus have a very rhythmical approach to things?
That’s definitely one factor. The influence of Meshuggah is another big factor in terms of rhythmic complexity. As for the song structures, I’ve always enjoyed longer tracks with lots of twists and turns. I feel these types of songs weave a sort of “musical story” regardless of the lyrics, as pretentious as that may sound.
Your vocals are uncanny, to say the least. Did you use any effect to make them sound even weirder or did you use some kind of vocal technique? It almost feels as if you were talking backwards or breathing in when growling instead of breathing out…
Well thank you. The only effects on the vocals are reverb and EQ. You’ve got it exactly right, for those Demilich-esque vocals I’m inhaling.
Obviously, compared to the first three albums, one of the main differences with the new album is how much the bass now plays a central role, even if that means not following at all what the guitars are doing?
I feel the bass been very prominent in the mix of each album, but as you mentioned it does branch out a bit more on this one. There are a couple moments of counterpoint with the guitar, which I feel has been done very well in a more Jazzy way by bands like Defeated Sanity. I tried to do it in a more classically-inspired way, which is something I want to expand upon for future releases. I’m a stickler for being able to hear the bass clearly in any sort of metal context.
Could you actually tell me more about some of the effects you’ve used on the bass, like on the introduction of ‘Seeping Through Ancient…’? Is that a flanger?
There’s a chorus on the bass throughout the whole album. For ‘Seeping…’, that’s a wah pedal on the bass during the intro. That felt like a bit of a creative risk and at times I thought it might be too over-the-top, but I like how it turned out.
Was it your goal with this new album to make things even more tortured and complex? To outdo yourself so to speak?
Yes, that’s always my goal in some way with a new record. For this one, I specifically wanted to expand upon the sort of surreal and psychedelic elements that I feel I struck on the last album. I also decided to include a lot more lead guitar work, which was actually pretty annoying to learn. I feel I did a kinda rushed and shitty job recording a couple of the solos, but in some spots, it adds to the whole warped vibe to the record. Overall, I’m happy with how the leads came out but there’s definitely lots of room for improvement.
Two songs on the new album are seven minutes long and ‘Swollen Torsos’ even takes it as far as nine minutes. Was it a way to test the listener’s patience?
I have sort of done that in the past, but that wasn’t really the intention on this album. On the second record the ending track is around eleven minutes long, and I was originally going to have it fade out before it got quite that long but I thought it was really funny that the last riff just goes on for like five minutes straight, so I kept it all in. On this record though, I felt that the lead guitars and vocals help break things up enough and sort of guide the listener through each song, so to me these long tracks didn’t feel too arduous to listen to. Maybe it will be a test of patience for new listeners, but I think anyone who’s familiar with the previous records knows what to expect.
You have insanely long and bizarre songtitles: is that just a nod to Demilich’s doing of things or is there more to it than this?
It’s partly a nod to Demilich as well as bands like Nile who have some songs like that as well, and partly a nod to the writings of H.P. Lovecraft. The last track on this album, ‘An Utterly Tenantless World of Aeons-Long Death’, is actually a direct Lovecraft quote. Absurdly long and cryptic song titles help to set the otherworldly and maddening vibe that I’m aiming to encapsulate in the music and lyrics.
Whereas the artwork on Blackened Cerebral Rifts was quite psychedelic, the new one offers a stark black and white, if still a bit mind-binding, image. Why?
When I decided to handle the artwork, I had it in my mind that I was going to use black ink on paper, and I contemplated adding color but ultimately decided that it felt like an afterthought. I also thought that the high contrast of black and white would provide the most eye-popping effect.
Do you think it will be possible to get even weirder than Nefarious Scintillations in the future?
Absolutely and I plan to do exactly that.
https://www.deadanddripping.com/
https://deadanddrippingus.bandcamp.com/album/nefarious-scintillations