When it comes to Dissentience, each release is an intense and meticulously crafted sonic journey. But with their latest EP, Kaiju, the band takes things to the next level, delivering their most conceptually ambitious work yet. Inspired by Japanese giant monster films and Lovecraftian horror, Kaiju is not just about destruction and chaos—it’s an exploration of humanity in the face of the unimaginable.

By Sandra Pinto

In this interview, the band members reveal how a joke between friends evolved into an apocalyptic narrative, the careful construction of riffs and lyrics, and the vision behind every musical and visual element of the EP.

Kaiju is described as your most conceptually ambitious release to date. What inspired the idea of centering an EP around a colossal, apocalyptic monster?
Initially, the idea was sort of a joke between Nick and I after having a few beers watching Godzilla Versus Mechagodzilla at a drive-in. There’s a lot of bands named after giant monsters that don’t live up to their namesake so we wanted to start a Kaiju-themed side project that did. That idea fell by the wayside but when it came time to write new Dissentience music, Jimmy brought it up as a possibility and it all fell into place. Between our love for concept records and my lifelong love of giant monster flicks, we agreed that Kaiju was the way to go, mapped out the concept, and hit the jam room.

The record draws from Japanese monster films and Lovecraftian horror. How did these influences shape both the narrative and the music?
The narrative was really formed by watching a ton of Japanese monster movies and trying to boil the stories down to their essential parts. Watching all these movies, we started to notice that the ones that really stood out to us were less about the special effects or the monsters and more about humanity once you got past the surface level. We really took this to heart in writing Kaiju because we didn’t just want to make a B-Movie level concept, we really wanted to make something timeless. As for Lovecraft, his whole brand of horror depends on the use of unreliable narrators and giving the reader just enough detail to imagine their own individual horror. We didn’t want this record to focus too much on the monster itself but rather the horror of the destruction and chaos so we tried to employ the same “less is more” tactic in the lyrics for this one.

You chose not to name the monster or the city in the EP. How does this decision affect the listener’s experience and the universality of the story?
Going along with the Lovecraft influence, not naming the monster or the city allows the listener to use their imagination and envision their own narrative within the boundaries we set with the lyrical structure. Not being explicit with every detail also let us focus more on the overarching effects of the destruction and the feelings of the people within the city which lends to a more metaphorical reading of the lyrics. The best monster movies are never really about the monster anyway, they address and explore some aspect of humanity. The special effects, the blood and guts, the guys in suits…that’s all just the icing on the cake.

The EP is only four tracks long but very intense. How did you approach pacing and narrative flow across these tracks?
Before really any of the songs were written, Jimmy and I watched some Kaiju movies and tried to boil the plots down to four beats, one for each song. We found with a couple of the tracks on Empire Anatomy that having a concept in mind helped us avoid any writer’s block and also made the lyrics and music mesh together really well. The process for Kaiju was kind of just a natural extension of that process applied across the whole EP. Having the themes and lyrical concept laid out ahead of time made for very little wasted time in the jam room.

Obsidian Tomb begins with a somber acoustic intro before unleashing thrash and groove-heavy sections. How did you design the track to build tension and horror?
The driving force behind the writing sessions for Kaiju was ultimately to match the music to the lyrical concept for each song. With each track, we started establishing the vibe we wanted to achieve and then wrote and refined the riffs from there. With Obsidian Tomb, we wanted a good mix of epic and destructive to convey the first appearance of our monster as well as the fear and awe inflicted on the people. The acoustic intro was actually a last minute addition once we got into the studio but I think it does a great job of setting the tone for not just Obsidian but the whole EP.

Chaos Absolute focuses on social and political collapse after the monster attack. How do you translate complex ideas like panic and futility into musical elements?
Going into Chaos Absolute, we wanted to capture the tension of all the “world leaders arguing around the table” scenes from classic monster movies or films like Dr. Strangelove. The song constantly teeters back and forth between syncopation and chaos, pushing and pulling the listener before ultimately ending where it all started. Some of that was intentional but honestly a lot of it just came out naturally in the jam room keeping the themes of the song in mind.

The title track Kaiju is a relentless sonic assault. How do you ensure that technicality and brutality serve the narrative rather than overwhelm it?
In the case of the title track, the theme of the song demanded an unrelenting approach. Every riff had to pummel the listener with the same level of destruction and intensity our monster was bringing to the city below. We usually try to have more sonic variety in each song but keeping this one musically interesting while maintaining a constant intensity from start to finish was a fun challenge. As for the technicality, I think a lot of that is just inherent in the riff-writing. We very rarely set out to be technical or progressive, we just want to write songs that we dig and riffs that are fun to play.

Death Shroud explores the aftermath and emotional fallout. How do you balance crushing heaviness with introspection in this track?
After the assault of the title track, we definitely felt the need to take Death Shroud in a different but equally heavy direction. The clean intro was the first thing written for this song and it sets both the mood and the tempo. Playing fast, there are certain tropes or techniques we can always fall back on to carry through to the next riff but mid-tempo tracks are much less forgiving to cliche. Vocally, the cadence and delivery matters so much more as well since there’s a lot more space to fill and emotion to convey. Nailing the atmosphere of this track was paramount and it definitely took some work but in the end I think it might be the most cohesive track between music and theme.

You worked with Corey Pierce, Matt Menafro, Zeuss, and Alan Douches on production, mixing, and mastering. How did these collaborators help realize your vision?
We’ve worked with Corey for a long time now and he always brings some great ideas to the table when it comes time for preproduction. He really understands what we want to achieve, musically, and pushes us to make the songs the absolute best they can be. Matt is another long time collaborator and is just as important to our process when it comes time to record. He’s willing to go down every sonic rabbit hole we want to go down, helping us craft a record that not only sounds good but also has a unique identity. Zeuss was a pleasure to work with as well and really took the unique vision we crafted with Matt at Peach Pie to a new level with his mix. Having such a decorated vet of the industry behind the boards for one of our releases is an absolute honor. The same can be said for Alan Douches whose mastering has been the glue that holds together every one of our records so far and hopefully many more!

Matt Stikker’s cover art complements the EP concept. How important was the visual component in shaping the storytelling of Kaiju?
Visuals have always been a huge component in the vision for each release we put out. Bands like Voivod, Baroness, and Mastodon who have maintained a visual identity their whole careers are massive inspirations on how we try to approach the optics for each album. Finding artists that we gel with, thankfully, has been extremely easy for us throughout our career and Matt Stikker was no different! We sent him out ideas for the art, the music, and lyrics, and he came back with what we feel is our best album cover yet. It’s as if the album cover is the first “track” of the album, showing the monster appearing through the clouds just before Obsidian Tomb begins.

Progressive death-thrash metal can be technically demanding. How do you approach songwriting to maintain both complexity and emotional impact?
The most important aspect of songwriting to us is just crafting an impactful piece of music. We never really think of ourselves as technical or progressive, we just want the parts we write to serve the needs of the song. Sometimes that means getting more technical and writing a 7 minute song, other times the song calls for caveman riffs. Having the freedom to go either direction just means we can keep listeners on their toes with every release. Approaching writing with a clear idea of the lyrical content in mind has been a really fruitful method of songwriting but we’re always trying to keep things interesting in the jam room. Sometimes we shake up our approach just to get out of our comfort zone and come at things from a new perspective.

You’ve cited bands like TRIVIUM, REVOCATION, SYLOSIS, and THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER as influences. How do you integrate these inspirations while maintaining your unique voice?
As time goes on, integrating our influences becomes less and less of a conscious act. We might use certain songs or riffs from bands we dig as creative references but lately we’ve just been getting in the room and jamming, letting things sort of flow naturally without giving ourselves time to start drawing comparisons. That said, we try to be aware if certain parts or riffs get too close to another band’s sound because we don’t want to be seen as a second rate version of someone else. Being wholly original is almost impossible at this point but we do our best to mix things up in a way that we don’t hear other bands doing.

Looking forward, what do you hope listeners take away from Kaiju?
We really just want listeners to have as much fun listening to Kaiju and headbanging along as we did making it. Whether people want to dive into the metaphors behind the lyrics or just enjoy some songs about giant monsters is totally up to the listener. Kaiju is a massive step forward for Dissentience and the most unadulterated version of “our” sound to date and we hope that anyone who listens feels the same way!

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