Two of Europe’s finest melodic hardcore bands have united on record and DyingScene is proud to give you lot a sneak peak of the results 24 hours before release day.
The UK’s Dead Neck and Italy’s Actionmen will release Defections tomorrow with the help of Germany’s Mud Cake Records. You can pick up a copy from the label’s website, and pre-orders currently live.
The split effort opens with five experimental, hyper-technical jams from Actionmen who once again display their off-the-wall approach to song writing and virtuosity on record.
Closing out the split is Dead Neck with five tracks that feel like they pick up where the band’s recently re-issued self-titled debut EP left off. It’s rapid, aggressive, oh so melodic, and offers its own share of technicality to boot.
We asked the two bands to say something about the new release. Both were good enough to give a brief description of each of the tracks appearing on Defections. You can find out exactly what inspired each band’s contributions to the split whilst listening to the entire thing below.
First, Actionmen provided commentary to their side of Defections:
“Lion” talks about when I’m walking among people when I’m high and I think that everybody’s looking at me. Sometimes I feel myself strong and invincible. Sometimes not – commiseration and cockiness.
“Born to be High” is an ode to the highness that makes you free.
“C’est Dada” talks about a contemporaneity where everything is moving faster than ever and everybody is going crazy because we don’t understand what’s happening but we’re not alone. It’s cyclic. We just don’t remember because of we weren’t here before.
“Showers” is an interrogation about love, relationship ego, and pride. Convenience and feelings.
“Polite song” is a song for a dead guy. It talks about the fear of the death and for what is unknown. I really hope to live as long as I can accept the idea that everything ends.
Dead Neck’s bass player and vocalist, Andy Dazzler, then talked us through the inspiration behind their songs:
“Die Tryin'” is about not giving up, not just in the face of adversity, but in a society that advocates lowering the priorities of happiness and fulfilment in the name of wage slavery. It’s about moving forward off your own back and with your own motivation.
“Bakers Dozen”: I honestly think that punk rock music saves lives. A single song, lyric, or riff can stop you from doing something stupid, let you know you’re not alone in the world, get you out of bed, keep you up all night, give you the feeling that you can fight back and be part of a movement of thinkers. I wouldn’t like to imagine my life if I hadn’t found it, and I guess this song is about that.
“Clatter” is a song about reclaiming as much of what’s been stolen from us by the state and corporations as possible. Dead Neck is pro-squatting, pro-direct action, pro-antifa action and pro-legalisation.
“Seven Shades Of Shit” is about leaving behind the things that drag you down and going off to find the thing you feel like you were supposed to be doing.
“Blind into the Dark” is about how difficult it can be to take a step into the unknown, about the importance of blazing trails and how the path that’s been laid out isn’t always the right one.
Dead Neck are currently on tour around Europe. The band has a release show scheduled for tomorrow evening in Germany. If you’re in the area, you’d be a fool not to head on over.