dED and BURYd, Goth Horror with a “soft kiss”
Okay, I do admit that I am a fan of horror, especially the original Nosferatu (1922) with Max Schreck and anything that is psychological and suggestive rather than slash and gore! This review is more of an introduction to British goth horror rock outfits dED and Buryd. Benny forwarded the information to me, and now here I am exploring the sub-rock subgenre that appears to be gaining some traction at the moment.
I’ll start with some background information that came from an email exchange between Benny and band member Ed Malaker:
- As a starter, who comprises the band?
Ed Malaker
Nancy Bury
Frank Baransky
Ed is the guitar and synth player and primary songwriter, though the others contribute quite a bit. Nany plays bass, and Frank is the lead singer, though we all have songs we sing and we often switch up other instruments too, for instance, Frank plays bass on “Soft Kiss.” Ed was the lead singer for many years before Frank joined two years ago.
- What musical influences do you feel you pull from, and how long has the band been running?
We have varied musical tastes. Frank is usually listening to smooth jazz, Steely Dan, Devo, or his all-time favourite, Kiss. Nancy enjoys David Bowie, Elton John, Alice Cooper, and Rob Zombie. Ed grew up with 80s hard rock and metal, which probably makes up the bulk of his musical influence, though he and Nancy listen to primarily new music in the Goth, Darkwave, and Postunk genres now, which probably influences the music. All three members also love horror movies, especially older ones.
The band has been around since 2010, and we had drummer Matt Nielson for several years. Frank joined two years ago, and we have plenty of fun.
- It’s great you are doing the videos; do the ideas for those come from within the band or do you get external help?
Yes, all of our videos are our ideas. We don’t use any outside help to create them. However, if you watch them all, you will see some stock images from free sites like Pixabay. We always thank the creators, and we feel it is a way to promote their work. We also used some outside actors in our short film, Dr. Physt. However, we all like to act, especially Frank, while Ed and Nancy like to film and edit videos, so we create whatever we can. Nancy is also a great artist, and Ed works with modelling and game design in Unreal Engine, which helps us create animated videos.
- Future plans?
Our big plan is to continue having fun making scary music and videos, and we hope that people enjoy them.
With the real world out there getting increasingly scary, I settled down in my garden (which is not scary at all) and had a listen (and watch) to a few of the tracks these guys offer. I really recommend that you watch as well as listen, as this band is offering a visual experience just as much as an auditory one. I will take you through a few numbers:
“My Dark Mind” lyrically explores the darkness within the mind and how an innocent face can hide the thoughts of murder and violence within. As Shakespeare puts it in Macbeth, “False Face must hide what False heart doth know.” This is graphically explored through the musical chugging riff and rhythm as well as the sketches (black and white with touches of red) that add to the musical theme. The guitars do lift the music up, while the lyrics tell of the poison in the mind.
“Soft Kiss” explores a dark guitar sound and vocals that shadow the pain of the video. It almost takes me to a more grunge-based sound; it’s those “muddy” sounds and the dark vocals. It plays into the nightmare feel of the video.
I enjoy creativity and individuality. This type of music is in line with the images. The videos are tightly controlled throughout. For example, if you look at Mama,” there is the long shot of the kettle boiling with the blood to the side (filmed in black and white) but I also noticed the glass with the skull next to the oven and thought, ‘nice touch.’ The track is stripped down to its basic sound, and the video shows the lyrics slowly telling of the most awful of circumstances!
“Vile Brew” is the last one I’m going to review. They may not have a big budget for the videos, but they are interesting for how they present the music. This one has a moment of the wine glass set on a very black background with the red wine pouring in, while the vocals are (at that point) almost a chant, witch-like and creating a spell. Then we move to the lightning storm over the nighttime city, with this face appearing sometimes. Visually, I liked this one the best of the ones I watched.
This is just a toe in the water for what dED and BURYd do; they have a wide range of music on their Spotify. Check it out at this link.
The 2023 single “We’re the Same” is on there, and I listened to this one without any visuals. It has a slow and heavy sound, again in a type of post-grunge exploration of a darker sound.
I would, note here that this magazine reviews material that at least one of us likes! We don’t give stars, and we always note how reviews are subjective. For our purposes here, I listen to the likes of KK Hammond and Stitched Up Heart, (and I like the forgotten Kiss grunge album “Carnival of Souls), so I was happy to send this to our readers. To like this, as I did, you have to appreciate the darkness that lies within us all, and a love of the old days of classic horror helps too! These guys are doing what they do very well, and we hope you support them by listening to their music and giving them a stream!
By Stevie Ritson
I hope you enjoyed this review style piece. We work hard for you all to introduce you to the best in new music, often by independent artists. Please do explore our magazine a bit before you go, we have great features, loads of reviews, quizzes and poetry! All original, all by us. Enjoy!
