The Dead Science

Villainaire (Constellation)

By Annie Holub
Published: August 22nd, 2008 | 9:00am

A couple years ago, I asked Shudder To Think’s Craig Wedren — who was about to begin touring behind his new solo record with Seattle’s the Dead Science — how the relationship began. He explained that the Dead Science had contacted him and proposed a tour where they would be both opening and backing band for Wedren. “My reaction was: they must suck. Because no good band would ever want to take me on tour,” Wedren told me. “But … they’re amazing. Their music is beautiful, and [singer Sam Mickens’] voice is crazy.”

With Villainaire, the Dead Science continue to live up to that introduction: it’s epic and awe-inspiring, and Wedren himself contributes backing vocals. It can be hard to hear the beauty in the Dead Science’s music — Mickens’ breathy vibrato sounds absolutely psychotic at times, and they use their instruments to create complex emotional textures rather than melodies or songs in the traditional rock sense. That's because the Dead Science really are more opera than rock — their music is an over-the-top blend of comedy, drama, narrative, and a variety of musical styles. What is beautiful, then, is the technical execution and the sheer originality of it all.

Villainaire’s beauty comes from its blend of orchestral dramatics and jazz experimentation with heavy metal and hip-hop aesthetics (the record is dedicated “in word and deed to the Wu-Tang Clan”). “Monster Island Czars,” for example, has moments of all-out pandemonium, disjointed instrumentation, angry strings, a non-traditional structure, and a verse where Mickens cries “Daydream of being married to a wave of bullets racing through my body.” “Clemency” tells the story of a “glowing criminiminal" [sic] over flamenco guitar and synthesizer breaks and beats. And on “Death Duel Productions,” guitars chop and grind behind violent lyrics before giving way to an even more terrifying chorus: acoustic guitars step up as Mickens, Wedren, and company sweetly sing “Just look over your shoulder, I’ll be there, I’ll be there.”

It’s not entirely dark and mysterious — “Black Lane” reassures against nightmarish late-night encounters, and “Wife You” is as close to a pop song as the Dead Science can get — but even on these seemingly soft songs, the Dead Science bring in a tinge of excess and possible tragedy: Villianaire’s beauty lies in this spilling over.

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