DED Drop "Purpose: Be Myself"

PHOTO CREDIT: Tony Aguilera

"'Purpose: Be Myself' was the last song that we laid down for the new album RESENT," shares Cotela. "We had so many songs that we had written internally as a band and we though, 'Let's mix it up a little bit, push ourselves and swing for just one more and get a fresh take on some vibes.'"

He continues, "So we had Zach Jones and KJ Strock go into the laboratory together with the intention of doing some weird '90s Prodigy-leaning rave banger meets a Ded song. They came back with this music and I wrote all of the vocals for it in about an hour. It all just flowed out super smoothly, which usually makes for a sign of a good song, in my experience."

Regarding the lyrics, Cotela explains, "I think the meaning of the song is pretty self-explanatory but it's really about following your purpose. That calling is usually from somewhere in your intuition deep inside of your being. Everyone has their own unique purpose or multiple purposes that give their life meaning and value. I think putting these purposes at the forefront of your life is pretty much the meaning of life. It's a calling that comes from your soul and it brings you closer to the universe/god/love/self."

Cotela also pulled back the curtain on the album as a whole, saying, "Looking back at the period of time writing and recording this album is a wild thing to do, as it was recorded over the course of three years. We found ourselves stuck not being able to be active due to behind-the-scenes business shit. We'll leave it at that but It was awful for our band, for our momentum and for our growth in a fast moving world as a newer band."

That didn't dim the band's spirit, its ambition, or the fire burning the hearts of the members. And they took matters into their own hands.

"But just because we couldn't release music or play shows, it didn’t stop us from being who we are and doing what we do as artists. We made our own recording studio Trash Island Studios in Phoenix. With all of that time, we just went nuts writing songs — a lot of songs. And we did it all ourselves this time. Aside from the help of mixing and mastering the album by our friends Zach Jones and KJ Strock, we engineered, produced and wrote almost every part of this record by ourselves with no outside influences. On top of that we did get some of our favorite vocalists and friends: Chad Gray of Mudvayne, Chris Motionless of Motionless In White. and Danny Leal of Upon a Burning Body to do features on three unique tracks on the album with us. We are honored to have each of them add their own unique flavors to these songs."

He furthers, "So this is the most 'unfiltered' Ded release to come out. We have 100 percent love and gratitude for everyone that we have worked with to make Ded music in the past. They changed our lives and we learned so much and carry their wisdom with us. But for this record, it was four guys getting back to our roots of having fun trying to make good heavy music that made us happy first before anyone. It was the way that we wrote when we started Ded. I think that early spirit has been channeled again but in a new way."

Cotela also shares, "This album is three years of trials and tribulations. The internal battle of telling yourself over and over 'I can do this, I can do anything that I set my mind to.' That was coupled with the anger and frustration of existing in the current climate of the past couple years in the world and our struggles to overcome and remain steadfast in our pursuits. These songs are the angriest and at the same time the catchiest tracks that we have ever put down. You will hear so many influences from rock, nu metal, hardcore, thrash, hip-hop, electronic, experimental, metalcore, pop, alternative, and more. We are all music fans first and foremost and we cooked up these songs to taste exactly the way that we wanted them to."

He finishes, "It has been four years since our last record and we hope that these songs reflect that amount of time being spent sweating it out over the stove. Through gratitude, perseverance and pride, we can now give RESENT to the world."