BOMBASTIC SOUND

From Death’s Dynamic Shroud: Specialization in samples

Death’s Dynamic Shroud normally specializes in sampling music in unique and creative ways. Sometimes these samples are almost completely plundered (“Regret When it was Lost,” “RPG Windows Vista”), and other times they use these samples to add to their music (“You Like Music”). Death’s Dynamic Shroud always seems to find creative ways to pilfer other songs to form something unique.

One of the biggest things that Death’s Dynamic Shroud does differently than other artists that use samples is they know how to mix to add emotion and dramatic flair to their music. If I had to point anybody to an album of theirs that exemplifies this, I would be hard pressed to find an album better than “Faith in Persona.”

“Faith in Persona” primarily uses samples of then-recent pop songs (often from only a year or two before the album was released) to create sprawling, dramatic songs.

The album starts off with a bang, with “Tear in Abyss” having this huge and bombastic sound that borders on being suspenseful. During the first half, the song repeats a sample of Kelsea Ballerini’s song “The Way I Used To,” repeating the lyrics “So I don’t know why, but I wanna find out,” which, along with the instrumental, helps the song build a feeling of anticipation.

The song eventually explodes like an adrenaline rush. This part of the song gives way to huge walls of synths and pounding drums before calming down. The calmer part of the song has a sample of Demi Lovato’s “Skyscraper,” repeating the lyric “Take everything I have.”

While not as huge and bombastic as “Tear in Abyss,” the rest of the album keeps momentum by making songs danceable and using pop samples to add to the dramatic flair of the instrumentals.

One prominent example of a danceable song on the album is “Pop Chin.” In dance music, I typically lean towards bouncy synths and drums, and “Pop Chin” is full of them. The song stars off with an almost funky-sounding beat to drive the beginning of the song along with a catchy, arpeggiated synth lead. The song then samples various lyrics from “Cornelia Street” by Taylor Swift.

When Swift’s lyrics are first used, they sound like they’re a part of the instrumental, as they perfectly blend into the beat and lead melody. A little after a minute and a half in, though, the song transitions to focusing on the lyrics after a short interlude, introducing more sparkling synths. The song then becomes noticeably more happy-sounding. The lead melody sounds more like a chime, and the drums work together with the lead to support the sampled lyrics.

An example of a more dramatic-focused song on the album that keeps a dancefloor ready quality is “Last Minutes of the Memory.” This song perfectly mixes glossy-sounding synths and epic-sounding drums with a sample of Ariana Grande’s song “Needy.”

Throughout the song, the synths change slightly as the song develops and gets to a spellbinding state. The best way I could describe it would be gearing up for a final fight in a dystopian future with magenta pink as the primary color. As the song goes on, everyone piles into a robotic suit that for some reason has a magical girl outfit on with a bright pink ribbon tied in a bow around its waist. “Last Minutes of the Memory,” like much of the album, is a soundtrack like stakes being raised in this dystopian story.

This album is what I point to as evidence that Death’s Dynamic Shroud has mastered the art of using samples in their own way. Throughout the album, they create these sometimes sprawling, sometimes bombastic and sometimes retro-sounding synths which sound good on their own, yet they add very well-placed pop vocal samples to heighten the dramatic flair of everything. It makes for a great listen, no matter if you’re listening to it for the first time or for the hundredth time.