One of the most creative figures in the underground music scene is Darwin Dacanay.
With his emo band Richard Collier, he put out an underground classic album, For the Love of Death, under the legendary Take Four Collective Label. It was a one-off, then the band called it a day.
When Dacanay resurfaced four years later, he was with his New Wave band, The Skeleton Years, that put out a bunch of extended play singles under another equally mythic underground label, Still Ill Records.
Now, while waiting for the vinyl release of their album, Real Curses, under Eikon Records, Dacanay has dropped a new and intriguing release – The Nocturnal Ceremony with his post-punk electronic side project, The Night Rituals.
The music heavily draws from industrial, goth, and post-punk music with Joy Division, Ministry, and Heavens as inspiration. The Night Rituals blend minimal synthesizer textures, driving basslines, melancholic melodies, and emotionally charged lyrics.
According to Dacanay, the five-track indie release with Patrick Santa Maria (synthesizer, bass, and drum machine, who has his own electronic project Tekiyaki) is a conceptual mini-album where each of the five songs serves as some sort of chapter in a vicious cycle of twisted obsession and murder.
Described by Dacanay, who is a fan of the horror and suspense genre, ‘The Nocturnal Ceremony is a psychological music experience that is meant to be visualized, felt, and pieced together.’
The compact disc releases were under New Pond Records and have since sold out. Fans can listen to The Night Rituals’ music on their Bandcamp page.