Country music was a part of Bryin Dall’s upbringing, though not by choice. In time, Bryin Dall set his own course, but it’s clear that the desolate persona of Hank Williams resonated with Dall throughout the years. From the Darkwave sounds of Loretta’s Doll to the terrifying 4th Sign of the Apocalypse, and then partnering with Derek Rush in the “dambient” defining A Murder of Angels and the genre-bending Dream into Dust, the uninitiated may have expected these two to have run out of ways of expressing the dark current which has carried them.
If you’re not familiar with the work of Hank Williams just know that the lugubrious nature of classic country music was made popular by his honky-tonk twangs. Much of his short adult life was filled with physical pain, heart break, and self-destruction, all of which cumulated with his early death at twenty-nine. His forlorn ballads have been revisited by country and rock musicians countless times since his passing, though most often they are merely covers or basic renditions. What we have here is a complete deconstruction, an alchemical purification of Williams’ work down to its base elements and then rebuilt into an aural form best fitting his woeful spirit.