Dreaming Dead - "Overlord" (video shoot)
. . .
“Where is everyone?” Elizabeth Schall wonders. It’s 4:30 pm, and people are supposed to be here. The vocalist/guitarist for Dreaming Dead invited fans to participate in the video shoot this afternoon for a new song. I’m late, yet I’m one of the first to arrive at Dreaming Dead’s practice space. It’s a large room in Vernon, directly adjacent to Los Angeles. Vernon’s motto is “Exclusively Industrial”; the town is made of warehouses and railroad tracks. The setting is very metal.
When I arrive, a two-man film crew is setting up lights. A homemade dolly (board, wheels) sits on homemade tracks in front of Mike Caffell’s drum kit. Out in the hallway are a couch, a mini-fridge, and a case of beer. The band spent the previous night clearing out its practice space to fit today’s studio audience. It is feeling the anxiety any party host feels: will people show up?
They do. Danny Walker and Leon del Muerte arrive, fresh from practice for their grindcore band Murder Construct. (Walker also plays drums for Intronaut; del Muerte once played guitar for Intronaut.) Bassist Juan Ramirez brings a good-sized posse, and the gathering is now a party – albeit one with a purpose. We are there to headbang and look good on camera. Dreaming Dead are writing a new album, and the video for this song, “Overlord”, is intended to help secure a record deal.
The door closes, and the shoot begins. The plan is simple. Dreaming Dead will play “Overlord” a number of times so that the film crew can capture multiple angles for editing. The studio audience is to look enthusiastic, and also vary positions between takes so that our numbers appear more than 12. It’s surprisingly hard. Cameras make people either move or freeze up; I do the latter. Thankfully, the song warms things up in a hurry, as do the klieg lights and lack of ventilation. The room quickly becomes a sweatbath.
. . .
. . .
“Overlord” is the first material I’ve heard since Dreaming Dead decided to proceed, for the time being, as a trio. The band has historically been a quartet, but the second guitarist position has been a revolving door. One reason is Schall’s insistence that the guitarist be female. “I don’t want to be in a band with just a bunch of dudes”, she reasons. She also wants to set an example for younger female metal musicians. They are a tiny minority, however, and it’s been difficult to find a suitable second guitarist. So the core of Schall, Caffell, and Ramirez will make their new record as a trio.
The impact is immediately evident. On Dreaming Dead’s debut Within One, Schall took off on soaring, emotional leads – see “Putrid Is the Sky” below. Her solo in “Overlord” is more close to the chest – repeating riffs, octaves perhaps designed to fill space, overall a more defensive posture. It’s an interesting statement from one of death metal’s most creative guitarists today. But the rest of the song is pure Dreaming Dead – firing, melodic riffs; a psychedelic bridge with dark, clean tones; and subtle beat switch-ups by Caffell.
Six takes and one and a half hours in, the band is still playing hard. Except for Caffell’s girlfriend, Schall is the smallest person in the room. But her guitar crackles with manic energy, and her shriek practically expels ashes. She is the largest presence in the room. The studio audience has stood and headbanged in front of her, Ramirez, and Caffell in various configurations. Walker and I, being follicly challenged, make headbanging look bad. So we pump our fists. By the end, my arm is sore. Screw being a metal musician; I can’t even cut it as a fan. This is why I sit here at a keyboard, while Dreaming Dead sledgehammer and solder their next slab of metal in Vernon.
. . .
. . .
