Review Fix Exclusive: Bleeding Raven’s Dean Mason Talks ‘Darkness Consumed’ And More

Review Fix chats with Bleeding Raven’s Dean Mason, who discusses the project and why it’s a special one for him.

Review Fix: How did the project start?

Dean Mason: PERFECT! It’s the first time a journalist/zine has asked the question using the word “project.” Thank you. That’s what it is for me. I am not a ‘band’ nor am I a hi-fi mega star. I do music as a hobby…and I refer to the ventures as projects. This latest ‘project’ is Bleeding Raven’ and it’s more or less aggrotech or dark industrial or total shit…hahahahahaha  But seriously, in my younger days when I was a teenager, I messed around and popped out a single called “Dark Hallway/Golgotha” and it was released merely as “Dean Mason” and it was released on the Virgin sub-label “The Lonely Ghost Productions”. Hahahahaha. Ok, not true about it being a Virgin sub-label or subsidiary label to be more ‘correct’. Pushing things ahead …in 2012 I decided to take up the hobby of recording electronic music and released “St. Basil’s Asylum” as “Gnostic Gorilla” in 2018 on Cleopatra Records eventually. (originally released on LGP ONE in 2015)  In May of 2019, after a few years of putting out all sorts of experimental tracks of a more Goth/Darkwave/Industrial nature I decided I wanted to pursue a more abrasive and all out creepy and haunting album with a new project…”Bleeding Raven”. So, “Darkness Consumed” was the Bleeding Raven debut album and, as it turns out…the only album. 

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Mason: I usually come to the ‘studio’ with a vague notion of what I want to do. No titles or lyrics …just a vague idea of the kind of track I want to do. I start with either some beats/drum loops or bass sounds or synth riffs…it depends. Sometimes, it’s actually a long atmospheric intro that sets the mood and I go from there. I allow the process to unfold as naturally as possible. It’s sort of like a First Nations wood carver. They start with a log or a huge piece of timber and they just start to chisel away and allow the “wood to speak to them”. It’s sort of like that but in a sonic way. Once I have a ‘demo’ track…that is, a basic song (unmixed) I then begin the lyric writing process. Then I record the vocals. I don’t usually choose the name of the song until after I wrote the lyrics and then the title is usually taken from the lyrical content. Then I do the final mix (and I have no clue what I’m doing half the time but I’m not an engineer genius like Ade Fenton or Zardonic…as I said…it’s a HOBBY) and often I add more instruments or FX and sometimes atmosphere. I am quite A.D.D so, whenever there is some sort of boring gap…however brief…it drives me nuts. It’s like the musician who is taking a sip of beer and forgetting to play for a minute. There has to ALWAYS be some purpose to every sound. (Not sure I make sense) Then after recording the song I go and feed the squirrels and eat dark chocolate and do snow angels while listening to “White Rabbit”. hahahahahahahaha

Review Fix: What’s your standout song? How was it written?

Mason: Ok, so, you do realize that I have hundreds of standout songs right? … Wait. You didn’t know?! What the fudge buttons man! Hahahahaha Ok. Seriously, (I will try anyway…LOL) I think from this album “Darkness Consumed” my so called ‘standout’ track would be “The Cry of Simeon” and the two remixes included on the album. 

Review Fix: What are your goals for 2020?

Mason: Sadly, the only ‘goal’ I have for 2020 is to promote what I have now and that’s it. In October of this year I had what is called Sudden Hearing Loss and it’s permanent. I’m not talking just ‘reduced’ hearing but COMPLETE and TOTAL hearing loss in the left ear. And the right ear is compromised as well. It requires a hearing device. My hearing is total shit now. I haven’t even been able to listen to music since this happened. Even watching TV, I often can’t make out what the fuck they’re saying and that makes it difficult to even stay interested. Anyway, so that’s it for music. FINI! But, I hope to publish, if I can, a book of my poetry and lyrics in the Summer/Fall of 2020. Cleopatra Records is also going to release a Box Set of all my music. Hahahahahahaha. (Just kidding) OH…I nearly forgot…Cleopatra IS going to release my final Gnostic Gorilla album in the new year. This album was done in 2017 but not released. ALSO…I’ve released, with a pal of mine, Marcel Lecker of “Battlemoose”… a Black Metal Ambient ‘style’ EP using the project name “Luna Melancholia”. The EP is called Das Probleme des Bösen.

Review Fix: How do you want your music to affect people?

Mason: Most people have to undergo intense psychotherapy after listening to my stuff. Hahahahahaha. But for real, I don’t know how to answer that. People either like it or not. I’ve had some friends, who after first listening to my music said, “wow, that’s pretty dark there buddy”…LOL. I think that sometimes ‘dark’ can invite people to pay attention…to invite them into a certain mood…a certain introspection. Maybe that’s what my music does, other than make one release Hershey squirts. hahahahahaha

Review Fix: What’s next?

Mason: Is that a trick question? Hahahahahahaha More or less, and sadly, not a whole lot. But I do appreciate this interview. It was very therapeutic. Thanks again. 

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13818 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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