Dead Fader

Initially based in Brighton, England and consisting of John Cohen and Barry Prendergast, Dead Fader first appeared in 2010 with the single "Autumn Rot" and full-length Corrupt My Examiner. Issued by U.K. label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%223by3%22">3by3</a>, also home to the similarly minded <a href="spotify:artist:3BWpwowE9pSXzj9VB8W5sN">Cloaks</a>, Dead Fader's music was a harsh, punishing blend of noise, industrial, and electro influences, resembling what might have happened if <a href="spotify:artist:6UahQwC9EZGsFSuGjHJNe1">Wolf Eyes</a> attempted to make dubstep. The duo's broken, distorted sound caught the attention of fans of harder-edged electronic music, and they soon played gigs and festivals with the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:3UqRgrDIQ208yNGiWKRMNt">Napalm Death</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5UezsklPScipW64XJm7qql">Merzbow</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5LNKJqTTwBurtQ79xMK8Ai">Otto Von Schirach</a>. A digital EP titled Luckeeey was released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Tigerbeat6%22">Tigerbeat6</a> in 2011, and Dead Fader remixed tracks by <a href="spotify:artist:0fJqsi2tbCQBOA6p8Tb34A">King Cannibal</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2JOKkrpXtdpKvcGf1pjXz2">Hecq</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7bvXpj7XZfmaZ2HOcqgY1a">Bo Ningen</a>, and others.

By 2012, Dead Fader was a solo project of Cohen, who had relocated to Berlin. He released a limited-edition live CD titled Askanes on the Japanese label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Murder+Channel+Records%22">Murder Channel Records</a>, then signed with British imprint <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Robot+Elephant+Records%22">Robot Elephant Records</a>, which issued much of his subsequent output. His first release for the label was the Work It, No EP, which featured a collaboration with experimental hip-hop MC <a href="spotify:artist:5tpTQATVJLKPd959d3W1hg">Sensational</a>. Cohen released a more experimental album titled Deaf Arena under his own name in 2013. Dead Fader returned in 2014 with the 12" EP In Cover and full-lengths Blood Forest and Scorched (the latter released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Small+But+Hard+Records%22">Small But Hard Records</a>), which found Cohen adding woozy IDM melodies to his splintered, noisy beats. Cohen continued in a less noisy, more melodic direction with his 2015 EPs Hyp 30, Sun Copter, and Dosage (on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Touchin%27+Bass%22">Touchin' Bass</a>) and full-length Glass Underworld, although the releases still contained plenty of dark atmospheres and distorted elements. The Jenny 153 EP and a separate set of remixes followed in 2017. Dead Fader returned a year later with the four-track effort It Works 2. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi