DEAD WORK "The White Plague"
Genre: Acoustic Folk/Black Metal
Country: USA
Track List:
- Welcome
- Pestilence
- Gods
- Expulsion
- Fauna
- Resistance
- Mute
Bandcamp
Jon Pizarro - Vox, Guitar, Melodica, Accordion, Glockenspiel
Trevor Leed - Bass
Micah Butler - Vox on tracks 3, 6 and Saw on track 3
Marissa Sendejas - Vox on track 4
Jonmb Cichy - Vox on track 7 and Viola on track 6
Josie Krbs - Spoken word on track 5
"This album has been a passion project of mine since I first started Dead
Work back in 2012. In high school my teacher would hand out excerpts
from A Peoples History by Howard Zinn to go along with our textbook
readings. Viewing history from the viewpoint of the oppressed was both
heartbreaking and infuriating, but also eye opening. Of all the
injustices covered in that book, the one that struck hardest was the
cold and calculated extermination of Indigenous populations. My father
being Puerto Rican, I first started reading about the indigenous
populations of the Caribbean that he would tell me about as I was
growing up. It was astonishing that an entire culture could be blinked
out of existence in a matter of 30 years. But the more I read, the more I
realized that the Taino weren't alone. From the tip of Nunavut, Canada,
down to Chile and Argentina's Tiera del Fuego, all experienced the
same. And if not for my high school history teacher, who knows when I
would have learned about it. American school painted a picture of a few
small instances of injustice, but of an overall understanding between
two people that one needed more space, and the other was obliging enough
to quietly step out of the way.
I wasn't entirely sure how to even cover such a
massive topic musically, and so I put the idea aside for several years
and focused on other projects. Every time I sat down to start a new
album, or write a new song, I always came back to the same topic, but
decided it wasn't the time. Then, a few years ago, I made a move to a
new state, and Dead Work effectively broke up, since I was losing my
bandmates. In a new location, with no friends, I finally felt like I had
a fresh musical canvas to make something that was more aligned with my
recent musical tastes. So slowly but surely, I started crafting new
songs that felt weighted enough to deal with the topic I wanted to write
about. I decided each song would describe a different facet of
colonization, that when combined, led to the destruction of thousands of
cultures and millions of people between North and South America. There
is no way to cover each of their stories and do them justice. Some have
flourished in recent decades, some have been lost to time forever. Some
can trace their heritage back 500 years or more, some will never know
what culture they can claim as their own. I wrestled with each of these
song topics, and finally narrowed it down to the 6 most destructive (in
my opinion) aspects of the colonization of the Americas and the
Caribbean. Disease, Religion, Removal from and Destruction of
environment, Resistance and Language. These 6 topics, coupled with the
opening track, that tells the creation story of the Taino people, who
were the first to come in contact with Christopher Columbus, are what I
now present to you as "The White Plague". Each track will have it's own
description, so I would like to just finish this up by saying thank you
for taking the time to listen. I know this album is filled with
technical mistakes. I got in over my head when it came to playing the
songs I wrote. But I would appreciate it if you look past the goofs and
see the picture I tried to paint. I hope people see that I tried to
tackle this subject with reverence for the lives lost, and those who
continue to live under the weight of their ancestors. There is no
righting so many wrongs, but acknowledgement is the first in a long line
of steps to mend such old wounds. Thanks again.
I would also like to extend my warmest thanks and gratitude to
Hagiophobic designs for working with me to create the sickest album
artwork I've ever had!"
Jon (Dead Work)
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