Dust Prophet is a killer stoner/doom act from Manchester, New Hampshire, making waves in the heavy underground. The band’s lyrics draw inspiration from the graphic imagery of classic literary works like the epic poem Paradise Lost, writers like Flannery O’Connor and Ray Russell, and the apocalyptic Biblical legends.
Dust Prophet’s music strives to blend the band’s love of Seventies psychedelic drug rock with down-tuned, riff-focused, and hypnotic rhythm patterns. Last year saw the release of Dust Prophet’s debut record, One Last Look Upon The Sky, which hit #13 on the Doom Charts for January 2023. The band also toured the Northeast U.S. and performed at several festivals last year, including Maryland Doom Fest and the New England Stoner & Doom Fest.
Like a wild-eyed doomsday prophet, the band is also very into apocalyptic imagery. Dust Prophet’s Spotify bio reads, “Take our hand and walk through the smoke; enter the haze and escape this reality.” The band’s EPK also reads, “Dust Prophet is on the fast track to notoriety—if the world doesn’t end first.”
Let’s hope the world doesn’t end anytime soon so we can continue to enjoy Dust Prophet’s music! Guitarist and vocalist Otto Kinzel reached out to The Third Eye recently about placement on the Stoner Rock Madness playlist, and we struck up a conversation. Otto was kind enough to answer my questions via email. Check out the interview below with Otto from Dust Prophet about the band’s history, the New Hampshire stoner/doom scene, and more.
Interview with Otto from Dust Prophet
Third Eye: Thanks for doing this interview! Can you introduce Dust Prophet and tell us about your music?
Otto: Thank you so much for the opportunity! My name is Otto Kinzel. I am the vocalist for Dust Prophet. We are based in Manchester, New Hampshire. We play a blend of Stoner/Doom metal. We released our debut album, One Last Look Upon the Sky, in January 2023 and have been supporting it since.
Third Eye: What’s the history behind how the band formed and how you all got together? What other types of bands have you played in before?
Otto: We primarily started during the COVID lockdown in 2020. The band initially started with me on guitar and our bassist, Sarah Wappler. We eventually found our drummer, Tyler MacPherson, through a mutual friend and started jamming. This was still when we had to wear masks during our practice sessions, so it was less than ideal. But we were all excited to be playing music together and writing riffs. Eventually, I decided to start handling vocals as we were unable to find a proper vocalist who could commit the time and effort.
We released a few singles and played a ton of shows before eventually recording and releasing our album. We were a three-piece for that endeavor, but it was mixed and mastered by Jason Doyle (credited as “Jason Stealth” on the liner notes). After we released the album, I realized that I wasn’t doing a very good job of singing and playing guitar at the same time. I was only doing both at around 50%. We decided to hire a dedicated guitar player so I could focus 100% on vocals, especially live. And Jason was the perfect candidate because he was already intimately familiar with the music, due to being involved in all the post-production work. And he’s a badass guitar player! So that’s how we became a 4-piece.
Third Eye: I really dig your debut album, One Last Look Upon the Sky. How do you think your sound evolved from your debut to that album?
Otto: We’re a lot heavier. We are much more of a “metal” band now. When we recorded One Last Look… we played the songs in Drop C tuning. After Jason joined, we ended up moving to Drop B tuning. And now he and Sarah are both playing extended range (7 string) guitars and we’re playing in Drop A tuning.
Also, regarding the new material we’ve been writing, it’s much more technically complex. On One Last Look… a song like “Dear Mrs. Budd” is a good example of where we started and where we are going. It has odd-time signatures and tempo changes. We’ve embraced that and have started writing more complicated sections with more oddball time signatures. We still want the “Doom” aspect to be at the forefront of our style, but we also are taking a step into more “extreme metal” territory with our sound. This has been a natural evolution and shows Jason’s influence as a guitar player and writer.
New Hampshire’s metal scene
Third Eye: I noticed that you’re based in New Hampshire. I don’t often think of that state when I think of metal bands, but maybe I’m mistaken. What’s the metal and stoner rock scene like in New Hampshire?
Otto: It’s getting better. It’s slowly growing and getting stronger. In the early 2000s, there were a lot of Nu-Metal bands in the area, but traditionally, the Stoner/Doom metal scene has been thin. But in the last few years, there has been a rise in awesome, riff-focused bands that are strong. Some of our favorites are Abel Blood, Conduit, Thunderhawk, Vigil, & Earthlore, to name just a few.
Third Eye: What are some of your biggest inspirations for your music and songwriting? I noticed you list Kyuss and White Zombie, but I was thinking of any inspirations, including movies, books, or whatever it may be.
Otto: As far as lyrics are concerned, I take inspiration from a variety of subjects and topics. I’m a huge fan of True Crime, as is probably evident from our song, “Dear Mrs. Budd,” which is about Albert Fish and his abduction & murder of Grace Budd. I’m also a huge fan of the Southern Gothic style of literature. Flannery O’Connor is one of my all-time favorite authors, as is Ray Russell.
Third Eye: I get the feeling that sometimes it’s a tough time to be an independent band making music. What are the most challenging parts of being a small band trying to get your name out there these days?
Otto: The hardest part is getting our music “out there,” so to speak, to larger audiences and making people aware we exist. We fight every day to get on larger shows with more prominent bands and to get more streams and exposure on platforms like Spotify, YouTube, Tidal, etc. Just getting sales and downloads from our Bandcamp page. Trying to separate yourself from the sea of other bands out there, even in our niche genre, is the biggest hurdle on a day-to-day basis. But it’s a challenge that, as a working band, we must accept and embrace.
Third Eye: What’s one band or album that you can’t stop listening to right now?
Otto: I’m a huge Mike Patton fan, and I’ve stumbled back into the Mr. Bungle album California. I hadn’t listened to it in a long time. Such an amazingly complex and eccentric album. There’s so much to digest that it’s impossible to absorb it all in one sitting.
Third Eye: What’s one metal or stoner rock band flying under the radar right now that you think we should all be listening to? And why?
Otto: We’re friends with a band from Philadelphia called Thunderbird Divine. Awesome band and even better guys! Their music is powerful, hard, blues-driven, and very guitar-oriented. Give them a listen; they deserve all the attention they get. Fantastic.
Third Eye: What’s next for Dust Prophet? What are some short- and long-term goals for the band?
Otto: Short term, we are in the process of recording new music as well as re-recording a few chosen songs from One Last Look Upon the Sky for an EP. When we released One Last Look… we were a three-piece. But after we added Jason to the lineup and our sound evolved, as I referenced earlier, we felt that One Last Look… no longer accurately reflected our sound. It doesn’t capture how the band has evolved. So having an official release that accurately shows how we have grown artistically is very important.
Check out One Last Look Upon The Sky by Dust Prophet on Bandcamp here.
You can support Dust Prophet by finding them on Bandcamp, their official website, or social media (Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter).
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