Dead Hand Premiere “Muirgeilt” Live-in-Studio Video
Posted in Bootleg Theater on June 23rd, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Georgian atmospheric sludge five-piece Dead Hand released their split with exclamatory fellow Peach Staters Machinist! in March through Nefarious Industries. It’s a beast. A short beast, but a beast just the same. Machinist! offer two tracks in “Bask in the White Light,” which fosters almost immediate post-hardcore sludge lumber and caps with quotes from Fahrenheit 451, and “The Nail,” which is presumably named for what they hit on the head in their blend of noise, lumber, loathing and bite — actually the title comes from the lyric “I am Jesus and you are the nail,” but for the sake of argument, let’s roll with it — and unleashes its furies with corresponding efficiency and thickness. When Dead Hand enter this thickened, churning fray, they do so amid the chuggoplod and harsh doom of “Muirgeilt,” a single inclusion running a seven-minute gamut of extremity in purpose, bridging death-sludge with atmospheric heavy along a linear course that breaks almost exactly halfway 
in to a stretch of bass, spooky keys and drums like all of a sudden someone invited John Carpenter to the party. Please, come right in.
The surge back is satisfying and sudden, as “Muirgeilt” pushes into its angular, consuming final stretch with its riffs dystopian and its vocals more gurgle than growl, becoming shouts in the last minute forward push, some gang shouts to let you know where they come from. They started angry and they end angry, which is fair enough when you do anger so well. In the video below, which is Dead Hand rendering “Muirgeilt” live in the mood lighting of their rehearsal space, one of course gets a better sense for what everyone is doing at any given moment, with the arrangement between vocalists, the keys and guitar, what looks like and may or may not be some kind of theremin-esque device going on there, and so on. Yes, the sound is rawer than on the finished studio version — if the words “rehearsal space” didn’t signal that loud enough I’ll say it outright — but the tradeoff is personification of viciousness, faces to the rage, and that’s worth the viewing in itself, let alone the bootleg vibe of the thing, which is enjoyable in its own right and gives its own sense of atmosphere to the proceedings.
The split’s out on 10″ vinyl and DL, and you can stream it down by the bottom of this post. The band offered some words on the video and more below.
Enjoy:
Dead Hand, “Muirgeilt” live-in-studio premiere
Cliff Carr on “Muirgeilt”:
It was recorded in mid-February at our rehearsal space at my house. This song had a different drummer on the recording. Although Carson [Pace] is playing 90 percent of what Craig [Harper] played on the recording, he steps it up in the end and puts his own stamp on it. It is what we wanted to do originally but Craig couldn’t play double bass that fast.
Live performance of “Muirgeilt” off of our split with MACHINIST! from the DEAD HAND practice space. Out March 19, 2021 on Limited 10 inch glacier blue vinyl and digital worldwide via Nefarious Industries..
Order the Machinist! / DEAD HAND split at: http://nefariousindustries.com/nef-62
“Bask in the White Light” and “The Nail” recorded, mixed, and mastered by Lee Dyess at Earthsound Studio in Valdosta, Georgia.
machinistga.bandcamp.com
“Muirgeilt” recorded, mixed, and mastered by Matt Washburn at LedBelly Sound Studio in Dawsonville, Georgia.
deadhandcollective.bandcamp.com
Dead Hand are:
Clifton Carr – guitar/vocals
Shannon Harris – synth/vocals
Stephen Williams – guitar/vocals
Carson Pace – drums
Andrew Seth – bass
