Dance With The Dead

About Dance With The Dead

Dance With The Dead started in 2010 as the project of Justin Pointer and Tony Kim in Orange County, California. They landed on a sound that splits the difference between synthwave nostalgia and actual metal aggression, which turned out to be a niche that basically didn't exist until they carved it out themselves. The synths do the John Carpenter thing, but the guitars are legitimately heavy, not just there for texture.

Their early work got picked up by the horror and gaming crowds pretty quickly. The self-titled EP in 2010 and "Near Dark" in 2013 established the template: driving basslines, arpeggiated synths that could score a VHS slasher, and guitar work that wouldn't sound out of place on a Lamb of God record. They weren't trying to make background music for your cyberpunk aesthetic Instagram post. This was meant to hit.

"Out of Body" dropped in 2015 and that's when things started connecting beyond the usual synthwave echo chamber. Tracks like "Diabolic" and "The Man Who Made a Monster" showed they could write actual songs, not just vibes. The album moved between pure synth instrumentals and full-on metal tracks without feeling scattered. They toured with acts like Carpenter Brut and GosT, which makes sense, but they could just as easily open for a straight metal band.

"The Shape" came in 2016, leaning harder into the metal side. The title track references Halloween obviously, but it's not cute about it. By this point they'd figured out how to make the two sides of their sound feel like one thing instead of a mashup. "Riot" and "Screams and Whispers" have this locked-in groove that works whether you're into retro synth stuff or just want something heavy that isn't another breakdown-focused metalcore band.

They've kept a steady release schedule since then. "B-Sides: Volume 1" in 2017 collected non-album tracks and showed how much material they were sitting on. "Loved to Death" in 2019 and "Driven to Madness" in 2022 continued refining the approach without reinventing it. At this point they know what they do well and they're not apologizing for it.

The live show apparently involves a full light rig and video projections, which tracks for a band whose sound is this visual. They've built a following that spans metalheads who got into synthwave and synthwave fans who wanted something with more bite. It's not a huge mainstream thing, but they've sustained a career in a microgenre that could have easily been a flash in the pan.

They're still touring and putting out music. The catalog has grown to the point where you can spend a few hours with it and hear them try different angles on the same basic idea. Sometimes that's all you need.

Small crowds in dim rooms lean in close. No jumping around, mostly stillness and swaying. The energy is hypnotic rather than frantic. People come to feel something specific, and the band delivers it without grandstanding. Genuinely transfixing if you're there for it.

Known for Lovers Of The Night, Beneath The Silence, Dancing With The Dead, Electric Dreams, Neon Graves

See Dance With The Dead Live