Dream Death Sign to Rise Above Records; Dissemination Due March 4
It was a raging comeback that Pittsburgh death-sludgers Dream Death made with 2013’s Somnium Excessum (discussed here), playing fests like Roadburn and Days of the Doomed (review here) to support a sophomore outing released some 26 years after the band’s 1987 debut, Journey into Mystery. Dissemination, which follows just three years after Somnium Excessum, will mean that Dream Death have actually had more albums out in their post-reunion run than in their initial go, but their third LP is also being released through Lee Dorrian‘s Rise Above Records, which continues to give underrated doom — see also: Iron Man — its due.
Art and tracks and other info for the album have been newly unveiled. No audio yet, but all else came down the PR wire:
DREAM DEATH to Release Dissemination March 4th via Rise Above Records
Somewhere in the darkest depths of Pittsburgh, DREAM DEATH have risen from their self-imposed grave. After making their full-length debut in 1987 with the groundbreaking doom/death/thrash masterstroke Journey Into Mystery-an album that somehow bridged the groaning gaps between Celtic Frost, Slayer and Saint Vitus while going on to influence many a notable death metal and death/doom faction-the vastly underappreciated band pulled their own plug in ’89 and formed the more traditional doom outfit Penance. The latter’s 1992 album The Road Less Travelled was one of the earliest Rise Above releases, while DREAM DEATH began what would prove to be a 22-year hibernation. In 2011, vocalist/guitarist Brian Lawrence, drummer Mike Smail (formerly of both Pentagram and Cathedral), bassist Richard Freund and guitarist Terry Weston regrouped and eventually stormed the studio for DREAM DEATH’s 2013 comeback album, Somnium Excessum.
The band’s third and latest, Dissemination, marks the return of The Road Less Travelled lineup to Rise Above, this time in their resurgent DREAM DEATH incarnation. Forged in the dank recesses of Lawrence’s basement, Dissemination is the apogee of a creative process that recaptured and reinforced the singular spirit of DREAM DEATH’s late ’80s triumphs. “While I’m proud of the material on Somnium, I think there was some experimentation there that could have been reigned in a bit,” Lawrence offers. “The tracks on Dissemination are much more focused and delivered with intent.”
The opening title track was the first song written for Dissemination, and ultimately formed the basis for one of the album’s lyrical themes. “Mike had the title before we ever had a song,” Lawrence explains. “He wanted something to express the idea of people blindly accepting the crap that’s dished out to them on a daily basis and how little ability they have to change it even if they were aware of it in the first place. You think you’re in control of your life? Guess again.”
Elsewhere, “Expendable Blood Flow” opens with a nod to a certain classic horror score before descending into a gloriously moaning riff while “Nothing Ever Will” is very loosely based upon Russian novelist and naval engineer Yegeny Zamyatin’s dystopian 1924 novel, We. “The song deals in some ways with the ‘unheard voice’ being crushed by the masses,” Lawrence explains. The album’s other main theme is mortality, as perhaps best exemplified by closer “In Perpetuum,” which was written shortly after Lawrence’s mother passed away. “The theme of death can be very clichéd in this genre but I’ve attempted to take a mature, personal view on this subject,” he says. “In some ways I feel that I’m always running from my own mortality. On this album I’ve looked my enemy in the eyes and met him head-on.”
Head-on just happens to be the best way to experience Dissemination. Not to mention loudly and often. Dissemination is set for a March 4th release via Rise Above Records.
Dissemination Track Listing:
1. Dissemination
2. Expendable Blood Flow
3. Crawling
4. The Cold Hard Light
5. All in Vain Start
6. Dominion
7. The Other Side
8. Nothing Ever Will
9. Neutral Ground
10. In Perpetuum
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Somehow they dont look like the tipical Rise Above Rec. kinda artist , but its ok to take risks I guess.
HM
How does image mean it’s a risk? Rise Above released a couple Penance albums in the 90s and Penance even toured with Cathedral so there’s a connection there. It’s not too risky considering the last album was well received and the first album had gained more attention in recent years.
well , I loved actually Hidden Masters debut album and its even more different to other RA bands , Penace fits as it is Doom as well
I said something positive however I think :)
HM
I wasn’t sure if you meant that in a positive way or if you were doubtful of the connection between the lab and band.