Video Interview: Kelly Schilling of BleakHeart
Denver heavy introspectionists BleakHeart released their debut album, Dream Griever, last month on Colorado’s own Sailor Records. With five component tracks, the four-piece’s offering boasts a dynamic residing largely between heavy post-rock and doom, but there’s melodic resonance as well that stems from an all-deep-hued psychedelia, and even as the material touches on atmospheres reminiscent of Black Math Horseman or other tonally weighted ‘gazers, it brings a depth of sound and fluidity of craft that serves well to distinguish throughout. Founded by guitarist JP Damron (Vermin Womb) and with a lineup built around himself and vocalist/keyboardist Kelly Schilling (also Dreadnought) that includes guitarist Mark Chronister and drummer Josh Kauffman, the group bring a full-fledged sense of aesthetic to the long-player, replete with the patience necessary to construct such ambience and the underlying force of rhythm and melody to immerse the listener within its sprawl.
From the breathy, gradual unfurling of “Ash Bearer” into the emergent crush and later airiness of “Heed the Haunt” as Dream Griever cuts its river’s path toward and through
the consuming heft of “The Visitor”‘s reaches and “The Dead Moon”‘s suitably mournful peel en route to the 11-minute finale title-track, the album remains united in feel and hue without being redundant in sound. Changes in volume are executed with a marked poise, and though tempos stay largely consistent — one almost expects blastbeats to break out on even the slowest records these days — BleakHeart don’t sacrifice the mood built up in order to proffer cheap catharsis. Even when “Dream Griever” unveils its final movement, righteously heavy and topped with synth that seems to hint toward a progressive future to come, the band are able to restrain themselves from undercutting what they’ve worked hard to establish.
In the interview that follows, Schilling discusses recording Dream Griever as the US was preparing to enter lockdown (the first one) for the COVID-19 pandemic, using the space within the songs as a means to explore new ideas in melody and approach — she talks about “belting it out,” and for an example, see “Heed the Haunt” circa 2:25 — as well as learning to function as a band in a socially-distant context, the possibility of ever playing live again, where she thinks BleakHeart might go sound-wise, the status of the next album from Dreadnought, and more. I couldn’t resist either asking about Schilling‘s taking part as a guest for SubRosa‘s ‘SubDued’ set (review here), what with it having been such an incredible and evidently once in a lifetime event to witness.
BleakHeart, Dream Griever Interview with Kelly Schilling, Nov. 16, 2020
Dream Griever was recorded, mixed and mastered by Pete DeBoer at World Famous Studios in Colorado, has cover art by Brian D’Agosta of Gostworks Art and is out now on Sailor Records. Full album stream follows here:
BleakHeart, Dream Griever (2020)
Sailor Records on Thee Facebooks
Tags: BleakHeart, BleakHeart Dream Griever, Colorado, Denver, Dream Griever, Sailor Records
