King Dude’s guitarist Tosten Larson has a brand new project called The Dark Red Seed. While King Dude channels dark folk in a manner that fits along with former tourmate Chelsea Wolfe, The Dark Red Seed veer down much heavier side of psych music. Their debut EP Stands With Death is due out September 15, 2017 on Prophecy Records. Today, the band premieres a new song from the release, titled “The Master and The Slave.”
“The title of the song is taken from the computer protocol of the master and the slave, alluding to the idea that humankind is becoming slave to the computer and an augmented reality,” said Larson. “Lyrically “The Master And The Slave” is a mystery. It speaks in riddles and rhymes. It’s a poem and a conversation on the death of reality. A death that seems to be occurring in our age of ever-present. ever-changing world of connectivity through technology.”
“The premise is that what it means to be present has changed – face to face interactions seem to be slipping away as global communications, networks and relationships expand. This also includes the idea of a complete detachment of science from religion, where in science can also be seen as its own form of worship, religion or spirituality through ideas such as Sim theory, the multi verse, deep time and random quantum fluxuations from the seeming void of nothingness.”
The chanting, incantation-like vocals of The Dark Red Seed are not difficult to discern with careful listening, but the major themes of the song are most obviously expressed instrumentally. From the the dissonant-yet-mesmerizing opening guitar riff to the blazing guitar solo five minutes into this 9:40 epic, “The Master And The Slave” is defined by its incredible instrumental passages. It is clear this this band is equally influenced by its origins in dark folk as it is by modern heavy psych and classic stoner metal.
“Sonically “The Master And The Slave” is mean to invoke a hypnotic state,” said Larson, “[This] goes hand in hand with the initial creation of the piece, which started out largely improvisational. During the recording process the idea of this song was entirely nonexistent. It had been my intention to rehearse/record a different set of songs but for whatever cosmic or emotional forces were leading me that day we came out with this fully realized piece of music.”
The Dark Red Seed also features the engineer for King Dude, Shawn Flemming. “The Master And The Slave” is the second release from the three-song EP. The first song to be released was the opening track, “The Antagonist.” Larson and Flemming already have an LP in the pipeline, titled Becomes Awake, planned for release in late 2018. The album will be a bit of a “response” to the narrative of the upcoming EP.
Stands With Death
1. “The Antagonist”
2. “The Tragedy of Ålesund”
3. “The Master and the Slave”
Leave a Comment