Dead Season rises to the top of Maine’s metal scene

Last year did not start off well for Matt and Ian Truman, founding members of Maine-based metal band Dead Season. A year after losing an uncle to cancer, they watched helplessly as their mother’s five-year battle with ovarian cancer took a turn for the worse. The brothers lost their mother in February.

So when you hear Ian Truman screeching ferociously about black tumors and chemotherapy in “Cancer,” the second track on Dead Season’s 2008 album “When Everything’s Lost,” it’s not just a morbid goth-metal anthem. Nor is Matt Truman just going through the motions when he rakes a pick over his guitar strings.

Both performers unleash their emotions in an anguished but inspired display of heavy metal catharsis throughout their sophomore album, much of which was written shortly before their mother died.

“We were still finishing up the album when she was really having a hard time,” Matt Truman said. “There’s a lot of our emotions and what we were going through definitely tied up in the album.”

Maybe that’s part of what has made “When Everything’s Lost” such a monumental success for this indie quartet based out of rural Oxford, Maine. Songs like “Hero,” “The End” and “Mother” all refer to family members the Truman brothers have relied on or lost since forming their band in 2003. The album’s tone and lyrical content reflect the pain the brothers have suffered at the hands of a merciless disease.

“We’re not gonna hide from that pain, and sometimes you need an outlet to get it out of your system,” Truman said. “I think a lot of people are able to relate to that.”

“When Everything’s Lost” topped the list of local CD bestsellers at Bull Moose locations in 2008, while Dead Season’s 2006 debut “Rise” finished at number two. Even more remarkable, “Lost” finished at number five among all new CDs sold at Bull Moose’s 10 locations last year, coming in just behind new albums by Metallica, Kid Rock, Coldplay and Jack Johnson.

The local boys’ disc sold more copies at Bull Moose than top ten sellers by Disturbed, Radiohead, Lil Wayne and others, all without the help of a record label. “Here we are, this band here in Maine doing it on our own,” Truman said. “To see that we beat them out is definitely very cool.”

The elder of the two brothers, Matt Truman picked up the guitar as a teen and convinced his younger brother to start singing along to some of his riffs. They developed a love for seminal metal groups like Metallica and Pantera, as well as grungier rock bands like Stone Temple Pilots, and started playing cover songs with friends at local gigs. Their first band, Never Trust, evolved into Dead Season in 2003 and released a five-song EP the following year.

That first EP sold well enough to earn the new band a slot at an annual battle of the bands hosted by Skowhegan’s 105.1 WTOS in 2004. Dead Season won the contest and went on to claim victory three years in a row. After “Rise” hit stores in 2006 and Dead Season began to harness a truly formidable following, the band was barred from participating. “We had gained such a fan base that it just wasn’t fair for us to be in it anymore,” Truman said.

With five- and six-string bass whiz Steve Church and heavy pounding drummer Andy Hackett rounding out the group, Dead Season began working on “When Everything’s Lost” while the Truman brothers were battling through painful family circumstances. They were able to play an acoustic version of “Mother” for their mom before she passed away in February, and they released the album in May 2008.

Much to the band members’ surprise, “Lost” landed on the Billboard Top Heatseekers (Northeast) chart in mid June and remained there for six weeks, climbing as high as number six. To date, Dead Season’s combined album sales have exceeded 12,000. 

Although the latest album’s subject matter is dark, it speaks to a reality that most any listener has experienced. Truman hopes the songs offer inspiration to people struggling through hard times.

“Every song we have is not just fluff like the crap you hear on the radio, like Nickelback,” Truman said. “Everything we have means something and you can take something from it. … I think we connect to our fans on a lot of levels.”

Dead Season’s wide appeal has caught the eye of some national labels and promoters. Last year, the group signed on with Andon Artists Management, whose previous clients include Godsmack, Cyndi Lauper, Extreme, The Pet Shop Boys and Wilson Phillips. The band is in the hunt for a label that will help market their sound to a national audience without jeopardizing their artistic integrity.

Although several labels have expressed interest, some have balked at the group’s blend of hard rock and metal. While many of the songs have fiercely heavy guitar riffs, bass lines and drumbeats, the instrumentalists can also fluently transition into melodic segments. And Ian Truman’s vocals shift between vengeful, growling caterwauls and soaring, harmonious refrains. The sound presents a conundrum for labels hoping to box the group into a particular genre.

“To us, that’s what made us who we are. We don’t want to be one or the other. None of us just like rock, none of us just like metal,” Matt Truman said.

Dead Season already has a few songs in the bag for a new album, but they’re waiting to see what pans out with labels before heading into the studio. In the meantime, the band continues to focus its attentions on the burgeoning metal scene around Portland, where it consistently draws large crowds. Even shows in New York and Massachusetts seem tame compared to the energetic audiences in Maine, Truman said. “The scene that’s in Maine is incredible compared to other areas of the Northeast,” he said.

Despite the success of Dead Season’s two full-length albums, the live arena remains the band’s forte. Playing songs like “Cancer” allows the band members to channel all their pent-up rage and passion.

“It’s a chance to get it out of your system. Sometimes you want the pain, because if you feel the pain, you’re thinking of your loved one who’s no longer there,” Truman said. “It’s my chance to be angry about it and it’s our chance to go after it live … It’s therapy for us, really, every time.”

Truman confessed that playing songs like “Mother” can be acutely painful for him and his brother. But they cope with the pain by kicking their musical aggression up another notch. “That’s what’s great about metal: there’s always a fifth gear. You can go to another level of emotion,” Truman said. “That’s the beauty of metal.”

Dead Season has steady shows booked into April in Massachusetts, New York, Maine, Connecticut and Manchester, N.H. “When Everything’s Lost” and “Rise” can be found at Bull Moose, Newbury Comics or at www.deadseason.com.