(Chromatic) Dax Riggs today announced his first new album in 15 years, 7 Songs For Spiders, will be released on January 24, 2025. He's also shared lead single and album opener "deceiver," which simmers from a heavy, droning start to a crushing, cacophonous end. "Some kind of country and western doom ballad concerning that little light inside each of us-a celebratory turning away from the darkness and hypocrisy of the established gods of old," explains Riggs of the song. "Ain't no great deceiver / ain't no bride of jesus either." Known for his otherworldly lyrics, folk metal ballardry, and a gift for capturing the beauty in darkness, Riggs first garnered a cult following during his early days with teenage death sludge band Acid Bath-one that's stayed with him through the country punk garage folk of deadboy & the Elephantmen as well as his soul-stirring solo work. In the years since his 2010 LP Say Goodnight to the World and 2007 LP We Sing of Only Blood or Love-which saw Riggs praised by Esquire, Decibel, SPIN, Paste, and The AV Club, among others-his whereabouts have been the subject of wild speculation. Truth be told, he was looking inside for the things that fall outside of the commercial realm.
7 Songs for Spiders is a meditation on life and death under the influence of shadow and the tribulations of a spiritual animal. It was recorded at Riggs' studio in the swamps of Southern Louisiana with his outlaw band of Cajun cosmonauts: Lucas Broussard (guitar, synth), Kane Cormier (bass), and Scott Domingue (percussion). Inspired by world music, gospel, and proto-metal sounds, and reverberating with an undercurrent of rebellious joy, 7 Songs for Spiders has its head in the clouds and its feet in the grave. The album's sound is a heavy dream-like an iron cloud hotwired with phantom energy.
There are songs about human beings collapsing in upon themselves, songs about sympathy for the villain, songs about God and what your gods tell you about yourself. They were written at home in Acadiana, a region settled by descendents of French exiles from Canada. It's an area with a history of the outcast and an appreciation for outsider art and music. "I've always felt a connection with the spirit of this place. There's a vacuum for rock music here in 'Cajun hell,' so it's the perfect place to go inside yourself-where I've always gone," Riggs says.
It's in this environment that Riggs, alongside his band, explored a more experimental sound: a mix of ethereal dreamscapes, other dimensional vocals, and heavy guitar worship. Like night and day, a theme running through the album is a perpetual exploration of the sun and the shadow that follows. It goes without saying, but this sh*t is apocalyptic.
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