If you missed out on catching The Dead Collective live earlier this year when they toured, then grab yourselves a copy of their new EP.
Vocalist/guitarist Oli Brown was initially recognised as a blues musician, winning several awards as Best Guitarist, Best Band, Best Singer at the British Blues Awards. Through his solo career he toured and supported artists such as Jeff Beck, Joe Satriani, John Mayall and Buddy Guy.
Craving a change in musical direction and a departure from his roots, Brown formed the rock band RavenEye. Starting out with a five-track EP, they caught the attention of Slash, who proceeded to bring the band on tour through Europe and the USA. That band went on to release their debut album Nova and took their live headline show across the USA, UK, Europe and South America. A European tour with Kiss helped cement the band’s footprint in Europe, along with tours with Aerosmith, The Darkness, Halestorm, Blues Pills and major UK, US and European festivals.
However, when the pandemic struck, Brown used the time during the worldwide lockdown to reconnect with his own songwriting and lyrics. He formed The Dead Collective with drummer Wayne Proctor (King King) and guitarist Sam Wood (Black Star Riders). Their new EP is 23 minutes long, distilling the band’s evocative, atmospheric and sharp soundscape.
A single searing guitar is joined by a second heavier-toned partner, giving way to gentler strummed chords on The Dead Collective EP’s opening number and first single ‘Cracks’. The sound is dreamy, a little fragmented, but taking a melancholic turn as Brown’s despairing lyrics begin to pour out, intensifying and subsiding by turn until reaching its climax, whether that be cathartic or one of utter despair dependent on the listener’s own frame of mind perhaps. It’s followed by second single ‘Goliath’, where we’re offered Eastern-flavoured guitars across soundscapes that slowly bend towards more thumping yet hypnotic textures. It’s not a million miles away from the silk roads Robert Plant took us down, but filled with a lot more rage in parts vocally, and as Brown explains: “‘Goliath’ is about being trapped and overwhelmed by unsurmountable pressure to maintain expectations and relevance. The potential to either collapse or dive into transformation to be renewed.”
‘Estranged’ might be considered the other side of the lyrical chain to ‘Cracks’, something heartbreaking when Brown sings out “Can I stay?”. While continuing the atmospheric vibes fans have come to expect from The Dead Collective, the application of keyboards here alongside rhythms more akin to trip hop take this beyond the confines of rock music, and that’s probably my main concern about this band: I fear they might be perceived as being pigeonholed into past musical allegiances when there’s a wider and younger listening audience out there likely to respond positively to what’s being offered, emotionally and soundwise. Finishing with ‘Falling’, a number that takes the previous one a couple of steps further musically: keyboards appropriate epic orchestral arrangements, there are choir-styled harmonies, then a turnabout almighty noise rock ending that says: Take that!
Like early Radiohead fronted by Jeff Buckley, but so much more potentially for this listener. The Dead Collective EP is intense, shimmering, emotional, brave, and inspiring, as they are when they appear live.
You can stream ‘Goliath’ now, along with previous single ‘Cracks’. The Dead Collective EP can be found on all streaming platforms as well as on CD and vinyl.
