Screenshot from the YouTube video "DEATH ALLEY - Headlights in the Dark" by Century Media Records
This article originally appeared on Noisey Netherlands.
Superbia is Latin for “pride,” and it’s also one of the seven deadly sins—the worst of the lot, to be exact. It’s also the title of Death Alley’s new record, which features the track “Headlights in the Dark.” The music video for the song, which is the second single off the album, is a catalog of deadly sins: lust, gluttony, envy, and wrath. It’s like a bad trip that follows a man who’s obsessed with beautiful women, and while I don’t want to spoil the ending, I will say that it’s rather grim.Normally a band sends us an email if they have a new video they’d like to premiere on Noisey. But Douwe Truijens, Death Alley’s vocalist, came through the Noisey Netherlands office so we could watch it together on his laptop. Not only is it a proactive move, it’s also a nice one—if I had to watch this shit alone at night, it would probably give me nightmares. It also gave us a chance to chat about the video and the band’s new record. As it turns out, Truijens is studious as well as musically educated; in addition to being Death Alley’s frontman, he’s also working on his PhD in Political Science.Noisey: I saw that you posted the album art on Facebook. Looks like it’s some sort of monster holding a rather normal-looking baby. Is that how you view this album?
Douwe Truijens: Yeah. I mean, the cover is a good visualization of how this album came into existence—the misery and ugliness and the many faces of the world in all its vulgarity, but then you also have this tabula rasa that it spawns; the innocent child. That’s how I see it, more or less.Who made the cover?
An artist from San Francisco named John Vochatzer, whose artist name is “Calamity Fair.”“Headlights in the Dark” starts off with a lot of reverb. It kind of reminded me of Coldplay.
Okay, cool.But then it turns into Metallica circa Kill ‘Em All. Was that intentional?
Cool, those are two influences I’ve never heard as feedback before. I haven’t listened that much to both bands, but I think that the dichotomy, musically, is definitely what we’re going for; lots of broad influences, going in all directions from epic sounds to punk. But also, the song itself, and the topic—both have some of that in it. There’s some megalomania, but also something vicious and frustrated.So the video matches quite well with the song.
Yeah, I believe so. The song is about obsession, and the video—well, that’s obsession all the way. But it’s obsession with a sort of schizophrenia. The destructive side is very clear in the video. Both the song and the video deal with the pursuit of a self-created reality and how that can derail you.What’s something you’re obsessed with?
I’m obsessed with not getting obsessed.Can you manage that?
Sometimes.You’re working on a PhD in political science. Is that something that ends up in your lyrics?No, and nor would I want it to. I do think that those things come from the same core. You’re working on something, with a vision of how life and the world could be; you’re interested in creating art, how can we understand what we see, and how can we improve it. In the past, I tried to incorporate academic stuff in my lyrics, but it’s hard because it’s literally a different part of your brain. If you try to fuse those things, you end up with academic lyrics. I wouldn’t want to put anyone through that.Who directed this video?
David Fitt, from Paris. He’s a young director who’s done a couple of videos. He’s very driven. We know him personally from shows we played in Paris, but the work we’d seen from him fits really well with our music. I mean, it’s a seven-minute song, so you need to have a storyline. What he’s good at—I told him yesterday, “if Michael Jackson was still alive, he’d call you”—he can create a story that stands by itself, but that also serves the music. Which is what you want from a music video, obviously.Superbia was released on Century Media Records, which means you’ve joined names like At The Gates, Deicide, and Marduk. Is that intimidating for you?
No, I don’t think so. You still try to walk your own route, and if you have people behind you that can facilitate that, then that’s perfect. It’s not a competition or anything.
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Douwe Truijens: Yeah. I mean, the cover is a good visualization of how this album came into existence—the misery and ugliness and the many faces of the world in all its vulgarity, but then you also have this tabula rasa that it spawns; the innocent child. That’s how I see it, more or less.Who made the cover?
An artist from San Francisco named John Vochatzer, whose artist name is “Calamity Fair.”“Headlights in the Dark” starts off with a lot of reverb. It kind of reminded me of Coldplay.
Okay, cool.But then it turns into Metallica circa Kill ‘Em All. Was that intentional?
Cool, those are two influences I’ve never heard as feedback before. I haven’t listened that much to both bands, but I think that the dichotomy, musically, is definitely what we’re going for; lots of broad influences, going in all directions from epic sounds to punk. But also, the song itself, and the topic—both have some of that in it. There’s some megalomania, but also something vicious and frustrated.
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Yeah, I believe so. The song is about obsession, and the video—well, that’s obsession all the way. But it’s obsession with a sort of schizophrenia. The destructive side is very clear in the video. Both the song and the video deal with the pursuit of a self-created reality and how that can derail you.What’s something you’re obsessed with?
I’m obsessed with not getting obsessed.Can you manage that?
Sometimes.You’re working on a PhD in political science. Is that something that ends up in your lyrics?No, and nor would I want it to. I do think that those things come from the same core. You’re working on something, with a vision of how life and the world could be; you’re interested in creating art, how can we understand what we see, and how can we improve it. In the past, I tried to incorporate academic stuff in my lyrics, but it’s hard because it’s literally a different part of your brain. If you try to fuse those things, you end up with academic lyrics. I wouldn’t want to put anyone through that.Who directed this video?
David Fitt, from Paris. He’s a young director who’s done a couple of videos. He’s very driven. We know him personally from shows we played in Paris, but the work we’d seen from him fits really well with our music. I mean, it’s a seven-minute song, so you need to have a storyline. What he’s good at—I told him yesterday, “if Michael Jackson was still alive, he’d call you”—he can create a story that stands by itself, but that also serves the music. Which is what you want from a music video, obviously.Superbia was released on Century Media Records, which means you’ve joined names like At The Gates, Deicide, and Marduk. Is that intimidating for you?
No, I don’t think so. You still try to walk your own route, and if you have people behind you that can facilitate that, then that’s perfect. It’s not a competition or anything.