Us & Them is scheduled
for digital release on iTunes April 30, 2013, with European street date of May
3, 2013 and a US street date of June 18, 2013 on 13th Planet Records, with a
record release party scheduled in Hollywood, CA on May 4th, 2013 at Bar
Sinister.
The
album was written, programmed & engineered entirely by Havill and recorded
Fall 2012 at Ministry frontman Al Jourgensen’s 13th Planet Studio in El Paso,
Texas. Under the production mentorship of Jourgensen and Ministry alum Sammy
D'Ambruoso, Us & Them is composed
of 14 original and innovative songs and features additional drum editing by
another Ministry veteran, drummer Aaron Rossi. Havill handled all other
instrumentation, including electronic programming, keyboards, guitars, bass and
vocals.
A
departure from the distortion-bathed releases that usually surface from the 13th
Planet compound, Us & Them is
nonetheless as dense and intense as the darkest metal. “Kill Them All” is a
thudding and disconcerting track driven by the internal monologue of a killer.
Inspired by American author Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian, and the Hannibal Lecter character in the film Silence of the Lambs, "Kill Them
All" includes some of Havill’s most grisly lyrics: “Slow death, none
spared/one by one, tear apart the bodies/gouge their eyes, choke the last
breath.”
“Ghosts Everywhere” is a multi-textured horror-film soundtrack about
the gradual march we all make towards our inevitable demise and the possible
afterlife that awaits us. “May Cause Deth,” the track that first caught
Jourgensen's attention on the 2012 Ministry tour during a discussion with
Havill regarding pharmaceutical advertisements and side effects, is an
extensive collection of snippets from medication commercials that mention the
dangerous and sometimes fatal side effects of the substances, layered over a
soundbed of pulsing bass, shuffling samples and harrowing keyboards. Additionally, the influence of "May
Cause Deth" can be heard on the track "Side F/X" on the upcoming
Ministry release, From Beer to Eternity, which
accesses Havill's stockpile of side effects samples.
While
Havill’s demented music is partially inspired by horror films, depression and
drugs, it’s even more influenced by years of thought and experimentation and the
abundance of influences Havill has taken in over past two decades, including
Tricky, Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, Ministry, Leonard Cohen, Mark Lanegan, Dax
Riggs, and Townes Van Zandt. But what Deth Rok does with electronics and barren
vocals takes apocalyptic sound collage to new levels of darkness.
“These
are the sounds I hear in my head when I go to sleep at night and when I wake
up,” Havill says. “ Musically, I’ve
always liked sad songs. I feel like that kind of music expresses real emotion
and the really bleak stuff hits me the hardest. But I really hope there is some
kid out there in a really dark spot who listens to my music and feels a little
better that someone else has their dark spots, two.”
While
Us & Them is Deth Rok’s debut
release, Havill has been involved in production and sound design for over a
decade and co-engineered the upcoming Ministry album From Beer to Eternity between Deth Rok sessions. Additionally, he has worked in the studio with
Chuck D, Tony Visconti, Ric Ocasek and other music luminaries. And when he
isn’t touring with Deth Rok Havill techs for various
artists on the road, including Lou Reed, Ace Frehley, Faith No More, Regina
Spektor and Scissor Sisters.
Havill's
concluding statement on Deth Rok's Us
& Them is a gruesomely haunting version of Portishead's "Wandering
Star," the original of which is considered to be the musical epitome of
depression and despair; and yet Havill's interpretation takes the track to an
even deeper, creepier level of spiritual despondency.
Us & Them turns
downtrodden beats and unsettling sounds into dread-laden pieces of art. Hold
your breath, step into the black and let it consume you in a vortex of inviting
sound.
Rating 8/10
For fans of : Ministry, Krautrock, Industrial, Nine Inch Nails
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