Dead Label Weigh In

Following the recent postponement of their scheduled performance at Download Festival UK this coming June, Irish band Dead Label has not only released a new EP called Anthology, but two singles this April in ‘Deadweight’ and the more recent ‘Flux’.

Despite the impact of the global pandemic, the band has also been busy working on a long-awaited follow-up to 2016’s Throne of Bones, and that’s still very much underway, in the meantime fans familiar previous singles released over the years, from ‘Pure Chaos’ to ‘False Messiah’, ‘Triggered’ and ‘Dystopian Complex’, can find them all collected, by popular demand, on the Anthology EP.

The EP also features two new tracks that have never been officially released and have only been heard through the band’s live performances over the years with ‘Deadweight’ being the lead single.

In total, the tracks featured are ‘Deadweight’, ‘Pure Chaos’, ‘Triggered, ‘Flux’, ‘False Messiah’ and ‘Dystopian Complex’.

Following their performances with Gojira at  London’s Brixton Academy and the Manchester Apollo back in the summer of 2019,  Dead Label has been attracting the attention of metal fans alike, for their extreme heavy groove-based sound. Having toured with Fear Factory, Machine Head, Gojira and Jinjer and graced the stages of Metal Days, Bloodstock Festival, Boomtown, Download, 2020/2021 was set to be a huge year for the Irish-based four-piece.

Scheduled performances at Wacken Open Air, Resurrection, Download, Ireland’s Sunstroke, as well as some other (yet-to-be announced) tours had to be shelved leading to a huge creative surge for the bands next full length that they are still working on.

Drummer Claire Percival commented on the band’s latest single: “Deadweight’ is a track that’s very personal to Dead Label. It’s a cathartic response to some stuff that happened in the past, so we figured the best way to vent our anger is by turning it into something positive. This has been a very liberating process and we can’t wait to rip it out live.”While commenting on the forthcoming album, he said: “When the lockdown first impacted us back in March 2020, we just put our heads down and started writing like we’ve never done before. We explored so many ideas and arrangements, which opened-up a rich vein of creativity. You have to remember, also, this is our very first time writing as a four-piece. Mick (Hynes) has brought a certain flavour to our sound, that ultimately has made it bigger, heavier, and well…. It just crushes!

“To say that we’re excited about these new songs is an understatement. They have been written with the passion (and frustration) of our pent-up energy and longing to be back on stage once again. Each song is its own skyscraper…loaded with concrete. The new material is sounding super heavy!”

To celebrate the release of the ‘Deadweight’ single limited edition T-shirt were made available via the band’s website store here. In the meantime, check out the videos for both singles right here at RAMzine.