- Sydney’s Den are a gothic industrial punk band who are reconnecting with and revitalising the aesthetics of the genre's mainstream peak while engaging with the aesthetics of the more widely reinvigorated hardcore punk scene. Den play dark and heavy music that could be characterised as hardcore punk adorned with a heavy dose of gothic theatre. Deep Cell is in many ways aesthetically reminiscent of German gothic heavy metal band Rammstein, with emphasised keyboards which alternate between dramatically macabre resemblances to church organs or symphonic strings, and '90’s Eurobeat arpeggios and gurgling beat drops and ethereal vocal harmonies coupled with a densely dark and tightly produced combination of guitars, incredibly precise and at times, distinctly artificial drums. It's an odd and overstated aesthetic statement.
Adding another distinct touch to the stylised drama of Deep Cell, are the sci-fi themes of genetic manipulation and a culturally nationalistic affiliation with Western-Slavic culture.
Jazbina (Den in Serbo-Croatian) offers an extended introduction of droning, ambient synth, before a pulsating trance saw seeps in like an amphetemine shot, before giving way to crashing drums, chugging guitars and the lead synth melody, played with a gothic organ like tone. It’s a drawn out introduction to the theatrically symphonic aesthetic of Deep Cell, which is aggressively reaffirmed on the following title track, Deep Cell. The high drama, gothic lyrics (“Isolation, isolation, everyone in isolation, I can tell, deep cell”) are recited over a neo-classical darkwave melody.
The vocals are rather subdued, and often it’s difficult to comprehend entirely what they’re saying. They don’t do a whole lot to guide the drama as one might expect, that’s generally left up to the rest of the band. It’s also hard to distinguish how seriously the band takes their aesthetic. The sometimes goofy and always present synth and guitar sounds don’t really bring out the sincere qualities of the vocals; and the emphasis on speed in the more hardcore punk sections seems at odds with the drawn out gothic drama that surrounds it, rather than moving in and out of each other with momentum.
The hardcore aspect is the most appealing part of the whole affair, and Den make some really excellent punk music. Tracks like Rule with its dissonant guitar lines and Cancerman with its tightly packed and chaotically doomy feel stand out at times, but are likewise dragged back by the formlessly gothic. The buzzing fills that pan across the track are also effective are neatly slice up space in the many droning and repetitive instrumental sections. Rule most effectively balances the tone of funerary march at a rave with a genuinely catchy and surprising lead melody in a punk song. AHS I can picture being a much more effective song without the constant repetitive synth line underlining every verse, there’s an abundance of depth to the song that doesn’t get to shine outside the boundary it draws.
The final track, Submit, feels most aesthetically confused, and perhaps most exposing of the flaws that undermine Deep Cell. The permanently heavy drums, an excessive reliance on the alure of the formless and shapeless at the boundaries of every track, overly effected guitars, undynamic synth lines, and structure that is broken down but never built back up.
- Jaden Gallagher.