Sometimes you hear music that makes your jaw drop. I did that the first time I heard Dragged Into Sunlight (DIS). The second time I listened to them, I knew I would never be the same. Dragged Into Sunlight will perform mid-day at the 2012 Maryland Deathfest on Saturday, May 26. I hope they are playing inside.
I don’t really want to categorize the music of DIS, but I will say this. They are, in a way, crusty, doom-y, sludge-y, blackish, death-like and certainly metal. Hailing from the UK and founded in 2006, the members of this four-person act choose to remain anonymous.
If the YouTube videos are any indication, their live performance will seem creepy and mysterious. The band begins their set in utter blackness while programmed introductory sounds or audio clips build to a deafening crescendo. As they strike their first chords, the candlelit figures are blasted continuously by strobe. Your camera is not going to work.
The band, except for the drummer, never faces the audience. You feel voyeuristic, like you have stumbled onto the rehearsal for some strange ritual. The relentless wall of sound simultaneously compels and repulses.
Pretentious? Yeah, maybe a little, but at least they don’t wear corpse paint, hooded robes, kilts, or rubber alien costumes. If this band’s only “gimmick” is that they choose to play inwardly, toward themselves, and not the audience, then I am down with that. Music written for the musician’s ear is typically 100 times better than music written to please a particular audience’s expectations.
DIS’s most recent recording, Widwomaker, is a 45-minute continuous epic slated for release later this year on Prosthetic Records. Download two crushing songs from their previous recording, Hatred for Mankind, “Boiled Angel” and “Buried with Leeches” here. Prepare yourself. This is some of the weirdest, most powerful and otherworldly shit you will ever hear. Read a more comprehensive interview here.