Deadsoul Tribe (2002)

Tracklist & Downloads (MP3):

"This album is a kind of diary about the past two years of my life." This is how Devon Graves describes the debut album of his new band, Dead Soul Tribe. "The lyrics aren't especially philosophical, but they are very personal. You don't need to read between the lines because the words are clear enough and say exactly what I want to say.."

Devon Graves is the alter ego of Buddy Lackey, the former singer of the US metal band, Psychotic Waltz. And with the change of name Devon has brought about both a musical and a personal transition. Not so fundamental that you can't recognize the thread running through his life as an artiste, but rather one which underlines the singer/guitarist's huge creative versatility. In Dead Soul Tribe he has built up a band in which he can realize his ideas as a songwriter, singer and instrumentalist more definitively and purely than ever before. He says, "Even though I'm still very proud of the albums I did with Psychotic Waltz, Dead Soul Tribe is something very different. Our songs are still heavy, but the chords, the harmonies are darker and more atmospheric. The sound is really deep and more homogeneous than those of Psychotic Waltz. I didn't allow any compromises whatsoever."

His words apply especially to songs such as the opener, ´Powertrip`, ´The Haunted`, ´Once`, ´Empty` and the final song, ´...Into The Spiral Cathedral`, in which Graves varies between hymn-like arrangements, beautiful little acoustic parts, atmospheric compositions and powerful, far-reaching prog metal. The album was produced and mixed in Graves's own ´Digital Black Limited` Studio in Vienna. "The ideas for the songs just sort of appeared on their own. I just played guitar riffs and licks to see what I could make out of them. Or I stood under the shower, or sat around at home and suddenly a melody would pop up in my head. I have the feeling that I wasn't being creative in the traditional sense, it was just my natural inspiration turning into sounds."

His new band, Dead Soul Tribe, features drummer Adel Moustafa, a very capable young musician with Austrian and Egyptian parents. When Graves met him, Adel didn't even have his own drumkit. But the fabulous reputation enjoyed by the boy was underlined during the first practice session. "A rock band is only as good as its drummer," Graves says, stressing the importance of the rhythm section. "And apart from that", he adds, grinning, "Adel is a great looking guy. And how a band looks is no small thing."

Moustafa is accompanied by Roland Ivenz, a very notorious bass player due to his dreadlocks and his experience in an Austrian punk band. It was from there that he brought rhythm guitarist Volker Wilschko - again with dreadlocks - with him, to share the guitar parts with the head of the band. Graves himself sings, plays lead guitar, adds his own hard-kicking riffs and, in the manner of Psychotic Waltz, also adds several interesting flute parts. Even experts in the field may not know that Graves is an excellent guitarist in addition to his qualities as composer, singer and flutist. "I've always played guitar, even before I joined Psychotic Waltz," he explains. "I'm not one of these guitar heroes who can play a million notes a minute, so my talents weren't in much demand in the early Nineties, when Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert and Joe Satriani were the big names of the day. I play more of an old school style-I'm a big fan of Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page. My strengths are the phrasings which make playing that much more intensive."

Devon Graves is particularly proud of his voice, which puts a special stamp on all the songs of the album. "My voice sounds a lot more natural than it used to do," is the way he characterizes his vocal evolution. "With Psychotic Waltz my voice never sounded like I wanted it to be. But now, the sound that comes out of my mouth is the same that I have in my head. So that's pretty satisfying."

It's a satisfaction that he had to fight for long and hard because Graves can look back on a pretty hard time with huge personal problems. "I think they were the two most painful years of my life, but now I'm more balanced and happier than ever before. I don't even try to speak to people generally any more, with my songs, but more to reach people who understand me."

Graves is hoping to do just that in a more personal manner from Summer 2002 at Dead Soul Tribe concerts. Because he wants to get back onto the stage as quickly as possible-being as he is, so convinced of the musical and visual qualities of his new band. "We've already given a few shows, for example at the ´Monsters Of Metal` in Vienna. A lot of fans came up to me after the show and complimented us not only on the music, but also on the musicians' strong visual presence."

For ten years Devon Graves (a.k.a. Buddy Lackey) was the frontman of the San Diego based band, Psychotic Waltz. Their debut album, A Social Grace was described by many representatives of the press as a "work of the century" when it was released in 1991. In the same year Psychotic Waltz played at the legendary Dynamo Festival in Eindhoven/Holland, and released their very strong Into The Everflow two years later. Lackey used the involuntary break in the band's activities, caused by guitarist Dan Rock's broken arm, to produce his solo album, The Strange World Of Buddy Lackey. When Rock's arm was mended, Psychotic Waltz continued in their winning vein with Mosquito. Several subsequent line-up changes in the band followed. Bleeding was the last album with Lackey as singer.

His announcement in September 1997 that he was leaving the band came as a surprise. I felt I needed to leave the band he explains, looking back without anger. "I wanted to put my own ideas of what I wanted my music to be into practice in a more consequential way. " And it is this that can now be found on the debut album of his new band, Dead Soul Tribe. Graves is certain: "Everyone that liked the albums I did with Psychotic Waltz is going to like Dead Soul Tribe. And those that weren't all that keen on Psychotic Waltz are guaranteed to like my new band." So it's a call to every soul - dead or alive ....