Reign Of Roses

Reign of Roses was born from pain and loss… It was born from worn and forgotten fragments of poetry, gently woven into haunting song lyrics…

Dwayne Dassing, Programmer/Sound Designer and Technician & one half of the prolific electronic industrial act from Austin Texas, that being Mentallo and the Fixer, parted ways with his brother Gary to start up a fresh endeavor and sound after getting his fill of electro… Moving towards a much less abrasive sound and something more elemental and organic. Dwayne met singer Scott Berens in 2000 while one night out in a local bar, Scott had just moved in from Reno Nevada trying to escape and start up a new path in a new town…

Dwayne and Scott hooked up for a session to see if things would gel as in any audition, the first song hence was BLIND, all of its core parts were programmed & recorded in that first core session – had not the session been so fruitful there would be no Reign of Roses. The song was crafted around Scott’s lyrics written more as a poem – a beautiful, melodic piece so medieval and etheric sounding with its dark underlying tones and lyrics, long suffering and deep. From thereon a series of recording sessions were at hand and Reign of Roses was formed.

With Dwayne's arsenal of synths ranging from old analog beasts to newer digital, Dwayne recorded all the music old-school via sound-console/mixer using an array of outboard effects; the only parts laid down using any software were Scott’s vocals. The pieces are highly produced and well written – with very memorable hooks Reign of Roses is very accessible to the underground industrial Gothic genre and the dance floor. The recording sessions though were not all as easy as the first audition piece; other times there were objections from both sides in the direction the songs would take, eventually the songs would work themselves out.

Being the support act for the 2006 Mentallo tour, the band chose 4 songs for a limited edition tour only EP release aptly titled In Bourbon and in Blood, lyrics that stem from their mystical middle eastern tinged track "Blood", a song that inspires visions of another time and place. Hypnotic and enchanting – the EP also included "Reflection", a laid back dance track with its syncopated percolating fluxing resonant filters, and there is also "Tears of God" with its arpeggiating bells, flowing & melancholy, this song evokes thoughts of a Gothic nature.

From thereon there were a series of many sessions to record their first full length aptly titled REIGN OF ROSES, 10 highly woven interlaced songs, ranging from new-age dark wave to highly polished and well-crafted dance material with Gothic laced overtones. Many of the songs' subject matter stems from Scott's final days and tribulations in Reno looking for redemption and rebirth in a new place and city after his escape.