DIANA is Chris Mowbray & Sam Campbell. A London based experimental project formed in 2016. Their first EP, DIANA - was a stripped back, predominantly improvised recording released on limited cassette which delivered an abrasive and relentlessly dark wade through a war-torn hellscape.
NATIONAL TRAGEDY - their debut album is the diagnosis of a sick land - from political unrest to personal despair. Widely influenced by the raw emotion sparked by the UK’s decision to leave the EU, the album slides through a decaying soundscape of distorted horns, de-tuned guitars and screaming synthesizers. Ghostly vocals and industrial drones weave through twisted horror ballads and post-apocalyptic requiems, lamenting conditions of surveillance, segregation, mental illness and failed relationships. From misanthropic love songs to doom-laden walls of noise, National Tragedy delivers a bristling, malevolent and unrestrained portrayal of suffering, whilst never ceasing to fully relinquish its desperate grip of hope. Mixed and mastered by Amir Shoat (Dean Blunt, Klein, Carla dal Forno).
PAST. PRESENT. PAIN. EP - released at the end of 2020 was produced during the earlier UK coronavirus lockdowns and saw DIANA embrace a more meditative and melancholy use of tape loops; reflecting the newfound monotony and ritual repetition of life in 'domestic prison'. 'Stay Around' features saxophone and guitar by Lee Tesche (Algiers). Mixed and mastered by Amir Shoat (Dean Blunt, Klein, Carla dal Forno).
DREAMS OF EMPIRE - is a natural follow up piece to their debut album NATIONAL TRAGEDY. More viscerally electronic in nature, DREAMS OF EMPIRE further explores themes of isolation, failed relationships, political unrest & sardonic patriotism. It's both a requiem and love letter to the past - permeated with nostalgia but inevitably outweighed and ladened with fear of what lies ahead. Mixed by Jimmy Robertson (Anna Calvi, Depeche Mode) and mastered by Andrew Liles (Nurse With Wound, Current 93).
─
diana.painaesthetics at gmail.com