Composer and multi-instrumentalist Dan Romans finds himself among a revolving collective of musicians from the likes of Psalm Zero, Kayo Dot, and others under his flagship outlet The DRX, which, as you could imagine given its pedigree and the company it keeps, is a bizarre and ethereal project that is equally beautiful and thought provoking as it is obtuse and hideous. Through dense tracks packed with earthy guitars, mournful synths, and live orchestrations featuring an array of horns and strings, Roman explores a musical conceptual space occupied by the best of avant garde rock past and present, from Mr. Bungle to contemporaries Kayo Dot, on latest offering Throughout Within.
Romans is a fascinating musician, wailing and growling across Throughout Within‘s nine sprawling tracks that contribute to the overall atmosphere of esoteric whimsy and incongruous tone: somber timbers clash against uplifting major key swells in heartfelt choruses; trumpets blare out through sludgy dirges; playful keys bounce around in morose wonder. Throughout Within is an oddity for sure, but it has the emotional depth and substance back it up. You can stream the record in its entirety via the Soundcloud player below.
Led by composer and multi-instrumentalist Dan Romans, and featuring members of Kayo Dot, Psalm Zero, The Riot Oak, Jerseyband, and others, The DRX has birthed its cathartic magnum opus with Throughout Within. Recorded by Jon Grabowski, recorded and mixed by Tyler Hartman, and mastered by Carl Saff (Grails, Young Widows), the core instrumentation of Throughout Within includes voice, tenor saxophone, keyboard, electric guitar, synth bass, and drums, with additions of clarinet, trumpet, flugelhorn, bass saxophone, violin, cello, electric cello, and choir vocals. Led by multi-instrumentalist Dan Romans, the record features contributions from Ryan Hare (The Riot Oak), Ed Rosenberg III (Jerseyband, Glue Gun Optimism), Tim Byrnes (Hazel-Rah, Kayo Dot, Stern), Sarah Fylak (Beauchene Skulls), Marie Kim (Blank Paper), Dean Capper, Emily Peal (Pale Gloom, Westeryear), Michelle Silver (The Riot Oak), Arone Dyer (Buke & Gase), Chuck Stern (Stern), and Ron Varod (Kayo Dot, Psalm Zero), with cover art by Nico Mazza.
Nefarious Industries will release The DRX’s Throughout Within digitally on December 30th; preorder bundles including custom packaged and hand-numbered CDs of the first two DRX releases, Thesis and The Deepening Hole — both in extremely limited quantities — plus a hand-numbered poster of each album’s cover art, including Throughout Within, are available at this location.