Charlie Schmid has pounded and pummeled drums for a variety of heavy metal bands, including Tombs, but somewhere along the line he adopted the “country goth” persona Del Judas. His debut album under that guise, Deity, came into the world via the Primal Architecture imprint (owned by none other than Josh Strawn of Azar Swan). On said release, listeners are treated to a variety of romantically-minded tunes that traverse the distance between classic Americana and post-punk.
You can hear all that at work via “Of Love and Death”, culled from Deity. Built upon a pulsing, resonant and haunting bassline that recalls Simon Gallup’s most inventive work with the Cure, coupled with spacey, desolate guitar figures that imagine Chris Isaak trapped in a suburban dungeon and a vocal performance that could make a statue jump with its emotional intensity and insight.
No matter the nomenclature we find to describe Del Judas, it’s music that transcends familiar boundaries and appeals to the dark romantic in us all.