Surprising us all, a young deathcore group named Depressant came out of nowhere to finish off the year with the release of their debut EP Death Tapes Vol. 1, which has been released today - and it's magnificent.
Led by To The Grave's Dane Evans (who's had a massive year in his own right), the Aussie deathcore group deliver beefy guitar riffs and tight drums to create space for the monster vocalist to do what he does best on all four tracks, including some delightful gutturals and pig squeals. A number of guest vocalists add to the excitement of this release, with one notable guest being Mikey Arthur from The Gloom In The Corner.
To understand more of the project, we grabbed Evans to pick his brain about the project and what the future might look like for the group while the vocalist juggles the task of fronting two deathcore bands.
For those who are unaware, how did Depressant come to exist?
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We’re all mates that have written music together for a long time in some capacity or another,
Depressant was just the outlet we created at a time in our lives when we needed it.
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Fans have been waiting for this release for quite a while now, what hurdles did you overcome throughout the creative process which may have delayed the process?
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COVID f*cked a few of us in a few ways and definitely didn’t help those of us who were already just surviving. In spite of that, we’ve just been as quiet as possible working on new everything and doing our best to tidy up these four songs before we move on to a larger project.
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Is this release a continuation of the group's first two singles or is this a completely new chapter for Depressant?
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In our cooked brains, those two songs are a mansion we’ve been going insane in for the past year and this EP is the wardrobe we just found that’s also a gateway to Narnia... but it was only an illusion and now you’re in Penrith.
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Is there a particular theme that this release has been written about?
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In retrospect, the EP is a pretty broad collection of concepts that mirror what can go through my head on a bad day. This record (and everything else we’re sitting on) was made over the course of the past couple of years so at points can get chaotic thematically. One of the songs directly speaks on the wires crossed in our heads as musicians trying to create focused, yet angry art.
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What can we expect from Depressant in 2023?
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A tonne of new music, we’re excited to get part 1 out so we can reveal the plans for parts 2, 3, 4 and 5 and start working on our debut album. Who knows, we might drag ourselves onto a stage at some point too.
Interview by Adam Rice
Follow Depressant on Facebook and Instagram
Stream Death Tapes: Vol. 1 below
