The Third Eye

What do you imagine when you picture Nashville? Maybe tourists wearing cowboy boots and hats on Broadway. Or the slick recording studios on Music Row. Perhaps you envision the Grand Ole Opry or the Ryman Auditorium. No matter what you picture, for most people, the words “Nashville” and “country music” are usually synonymous. There’s a reason it’s called “The Nashville Sound.”

But Nashville’s music scene is more diverse and eclectic than some may suspect. Proof of this is a newer stoner rock band from the Music City called Dead Runes, which brings us dynamic, head-bangable, fuzz-drenched hard rock. Dead Runes tell us they make music with the frantic anxiety of Mastodon mixed with the chill majestic vibes of The Sword. They ain’t lyin’.

Dead Runes recently released “My Freya,” the first single off the new full-length record Raidho, which is scheduled to drop in February 2024. The band blossomed out of a small recording project in 2016 between guitarist/vocalist Hunter East and bass player Pogs in 2016. The project was shelved for a bit but the duo breathed new life into the band in 2022 when drummer Steve Janson was added. The Siren EP was formally released that year, and Dead Runes played shows all over the Southeast.

The power trio behind Dead Runes are all proud Nashville natives, and they prove “there’s more than just country in Music City.” “My Freya” is an excellent stoner rock jam with a runtime of nearly six minutes, showing the band channeling their influences like Elder, Kyuss, Down, and The Sword. Hunter East’s vocals have the majestic tone of many good stoner rock vocalists, and the guitar work is great, too. It’s a good track to add to one of your stoner playlists.

Dead Runes hasn’t released a ton of music thus far, with just this new single and the three-track EP The Siren. We’ll have to wait until the new album drops in February to dig deeper into their sound. For now, we can look at this as an appetizer to their stoner rock offerings.

The band’s Bandcamp page is active but the music isn’t up there yet, from what I can tell. (You can grab a great t-shirt, though!) I found the single on YouTube and also Spotify. I imagine you might find the music on other streaming platforms, too. Keep an eye on Dead Runes and their upcoming full-length. I’d say this is good tunes for fans of other stoner and heavy psych heavyweights like High on Fire, King Buffalo, fellow Nashville-based Howling Giant, and Baroness. Enjoy!

Support Dead Runes by finding them on Spotify, Instagram, Bandcamp, or YouTube.

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