PLAYLIST: Dead Karma's Influences

Curated and Written by: Dead Karma

In a (continuing) attempt to give some cool bands a platform to talk about cool music, we're having a band take over the blog every few weeks to share a curated playlist, along with some words about each song and why they picked it. Our most recent playlist came courtesy of Chicago's own Black Sites, and now Dead Karma are here to pick up the reins.

Hard rock newcomers Dead Karma are on the precipice of their debut release--the 4-track The Space Camero will be released August 23rd. Featuring groovy, strutting riffs, and vocal melodies that walk the line between tough and tender, the EP revives a classic, punchy hard rock sound that pulls vintage rock stylings into 2024. Hit that preorder and check out the streaming title track on bandcamp!

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Dead Karma members each selected songs to represent their own influences. Whether influential to us as musicians in general or specific songs/albums/artists that we feel have influenced us with Dead Karma, these are the songs we chose to share.
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Andrew's picks:

AFI - "The Last Kiss"
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AFI was the first band I ever called my “favourite.” I got introduced to them around the time The Art of Drowning was released and it was one of the first albums I bought for myself, and Black Sails in the Sunset (which featured "The Last Kiss") soon followed. At this point, punk rock was the music of choice in my friend group with everyone finding their own favourite within the genre. AFI ended up being mine. Fast and aggressive, it kept my easily distracted teenage mind engaged, but the melodic hooks kept me coming back along with the lyrics that were more serious, poetic and interpretive than a lot of other punk bands at the time. AFI has been an important influence for a few reasons: trying to straddle the line between aggression and melody, lyrically engaging and the gang vocals are one of AFI’s greatest strengths that has been a hallmark on every single one of their releases. Probably the least direct in terms of tracing its influence onto the music I’ve written, but it all starts here.

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Thrice - "Under A Killing Moon"

Where AFI was the first to be dubbed my favourite, Thrice has probably been the longest to hold the title. Heavier, dropped tunings (with the exception of their debut album) and Dustin Kensrue’s spectacular vocal range that was present from their earliest releases, but grew into something I truly envy in their later years. If there was a single vocalist who I could emulate, Dustin would easily be my choice. The influences on Dead Karma aren’t conscious or even specific enough where I can directly point to a moment on the EP where these influences appear, but I learned to play enough of their songs on this album and their other early work to know that Thrice has worked its way into my own guitar style.

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Alexisonfire - "Waterwings (And Other Poolside Fashion Faux Pas)"
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When I first heard "Pulmonary Archery" from the debut Alexisonfire album, I felt I had discovered something completely different. The music, particularly the guitars, was emotive in a way that I hadn’t really heard before (as I grew older, I’ve found countless examples that predate this, but I was young!) Then the juxtaposition of having three vocalists with very different styles trading back and forth or sometimes overlapping each other in moments of cacophony made this album a standout in terms of changing my taste in music. The song "Waterwings" is one of the more straightforward “punk rock” styled songs while keeping all of the bells and whistles that made this album a standout for me when I first heard it. Looking back, it’s not something I listen to all that frequently anymore, but when I do hear it, I am immediately thrown back in time and the influence it had on me is undeniable.

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At the Gates - "Forever Blind" 
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The big three Gothenburg bands (At the Gates, In Flames, and Dark Tranquility) could all hold a spot on this list, but I’ve always been drawn to At the Gates more than the others. A more raw and aggressive sound, less produced and polished than In Flames, more straightforward and less experimental than Dark Tranquility. Slaughter of the Soul as well as Terminal Spirit Disease showcase the best parts of this band with Forever Blind always being a standout in terms of catchy riff writing. The chorus riff in particular is something that gets stuck in your head. Riffs that have that catchy effect are what I try to inject into our songs where I can.

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​Sean's picks:

Mastodon - "Ancient Kingdom" 

Absolute banger from my personal favourite Mastodon album. I love the filter sweep effects used in the intro and try to incorporate that style when I can. Another big inspiration from Mastodon as a whole is the dichotomy between the vocal styles. From the soaring high clean vocals of Bran to Troy's gravelly mids. I feel like Andrew and I have that dynamic in the band.

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Red Fang - "Preshistoric Dog"
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Always has had a special place in my heart. When Andrew and I met we played this tune together in a cover band. Our gang vocals in "The Purge" make me think back to those times, same with our unified guitar lines. Just heavy stoner sludgy goodness.

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Queens of the Stone Age - "You Think I Ain’t Worth A Dollar, But I Feel Like A Millionaire" 

I wish I could scream like Nick Oliveri. I try. This entire album shaped my musical tastes from the second I heard it. Simple riffs, but huge sound! The 10 beat grand pause fakeout ending is a classic too.

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Karnivool - "Goliath"
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Karnivool's bassist, Jon Stockman, helped Darkglass develop the Alpha Omega distortion pedal which I attribute my live sound too. This song is THE showcase for it. Pure tone, so heavy, so clean. I used to rock the Russian Big Muff Pi re-issue, but I found it cut out too much of my low end. This thing rules, and so does the song.

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Jacobs's picks:

Avenged Sevenfold - "Second Heartbeat"

Avenged Sevenfold will always be one of my favourite bands. I like that they’ve always changed things up album-to-album and have so many different types of songs and influences. One of the few bands I truly look forward to hearing new releases from to see what they’ll come up with next. "Second Heartbeat" encompasses a little bit of everything I like about them and early 2000’s metalcore in general.

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Stray from the Path - "Snap"
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Probably my all-time favourite drum song and Dan Bourke is one of my favourite drummers. The intro is essentially a fast-paced circle pit style drum solo. The “Snap motherfucker!” break is super groovy. The end breakdown is heavy. So many great parts in such a short song. Stray From The Path is one of my go-tos in general when I want to listen to pissed off music.

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System of a Down - "Deer Dance"

Another song that packs a lot into a short runtime. Like "Second Heartbeat" for Avenged, this song has a bit of all of the essential parts that make System of a Down what it is. As a band they’re definitely one of my main influences when writing music. The experimental mixture of all of their sounds never gets old.

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Cancer Bats - ​"Pneumonia Hawk"

Just a straight up heavy, southern-style hardcore banger. As simple as it sounds, the ride cymbal that drives several parts is always on my mind when writing new sounds and I love using it. The guest vocals from George of Alexisonfire are the cherry on top. Being from Southern Ontario myself, I’ve seen them countless times and their shows are always unreal.

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Thanks to Dead Karma for curating this playlist and providing commentary! Tune in next week for another playlist.