Monday, September 17, 2012

Dead Eyes Opened



Country of origin:  UK
Year of creation:  1994
City/ Location:  Edinburgh
Official site: www.deadeyesopened.co.uk
Official contact mail: [email protected]
Members: Spooks - Vox
                 Dunsy - Guitars
                 Gash - Bass
                 The mothership is machine


Official Biography:  
Originating in the foggy swirl of old town Edinburgh these past 5 years, Dunsy & Spooks found they shared the same musical vision thing - an unshakable belief in the power of the song, and a desire to have posties whistling DEO tunes as they went about their business. Yet, whistling postmen notwithstanding, it is clear that DEO have plans to similarly infect the rest of the planet with their unique take on post-nuclear Goth. And the key missile in their arsenal? That'll be the new 'Believe' 4 tracker. Be warned though - to merely label the band as Goth does them a disservice as they think outside Miss Havisham's trinket box, taking in influences from across the whole spectrum of popular music. The Goth community, although espousing libertarianism and freedom of expression, can often be accused of musical myopia with each sub-genre having its own codified look and attitude, and it is such stringent application of the cool rule that Dead Eyes Opened delight in stomping all over.

DEO are a kaleidoscopic, psychedelic smorgasbord of influences, the crunch of metal guitars mixing with the darker synthpop sensibilities of Goth and EBM. As a result Dunsy, Spooks & Gash are trading on a set of songs built from the sacred ground up - brilliantine, shimmering structures of lush opulence laced with a rock n roll swagger.  You think this is empty posturing? You think there's no reality to back up the rhetoric? Well, the boys have a proven track record of writing quality tunes; guitarist Dunsy having bagged both BBC Radio One single of the week and NME singles of the month in the past. It is his filtering of the great and the good from the world of the six-string (metal to mellow) that give the group their own patented identity.  Marry this sonic palette to singer Spooks love of 80s synth, post punk, New Romanticism and early Goth and you have more or less a tick list of influences that make very amorous bedfellows. As Spooks has stated, the aim was always to "write quality music that doesn't give a fuck about categorisation - but if you want a box to put it in, label it radio-friendly Goth Metal." Both Spooks and Dunsy have  a songwriting cognition that stops everything disappearing up its own arse, and ultimately that's what makes DEO tick, and what makes the Goth Luddites scratch their Black No1 dyed locks in frustration.

The band recently completed high profile support slots with O Children, Die So Fluid and Goth supergoup The Eden House and now follow up last year’s critically acclaimed Submission EP with the aforementioned Believe. The EP features 4 tracks: the beautifully crafted title track Believe, the driving My Sanity with a HUGE chorus, the industrial dancefloor filler Polar and finishing with the relentless Day of Judgment. It's a mash-up of latter-day Depeche Mode, a noisier Sisters, Dreamtime era Cult, and a bit of Killing Joke. With some raucous guitars. And a pop song sensibility. There you go - you're in amongst DEO DNA now.  Subject matter? "Whatever has annoyed us - religion, people, stupidity" according to Spooks.

Keep your eyes peeled and your ears pinned back because these boys are coming to steal your dreams, ravish your heart and imprint their music on your synapses so you, like the Royal Mail operatives mentioned earlier, will find it impossible to resist their dark and sparkly charms.

Official discography:
2011 - Believe EP
2009 - The Submission EP

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