Drearleader (Slow Burn Snuff Films)
Released: 2026
Genre: Noise rock, Punk
Sounds Like: Chat Pile, Barkmarket, McClusky
Homeland: UK
What makes Slow Burn Snuff Films elite and sit atop OHMs Peak?
Drearleader returns with a powerful fusion of dark noise rock and punk heaviness, propelled by intense breakdowns and constant change ups.
Duncan's vocals perfectly complement the band, merging classic punk angst with dark and powerful tones.
If you're looking for a unique punk album with heavy and dark undertones, you must check out Drearleader. This will add a wealth of variety to your collection.
Track Listing:
PANIC 6:08
Carnivorous Dreams 10:37
SMRT 4:35
H&MRC 5:38
WD 1-39 4:00
Meander 6:29
Meatgrinder 8:09
one less place to twist the knife 2:24
Death by Eczema 7:59
Family Tree 8:21
Dive deeper into Death Songs & Lullabies with our Q&A with Duncan Hacker, vocalist from Drearleader.
OHMs Peak: You seem to operate outside any traditional heavy music style. Could you give us a glimpse into your creative process and how the film theme came about?
Duncan: It tends to be one of us will write anywhere between 25-75% of a song and then the rest will come in and add what they think is missing. That’s usually anywhere between 75-25% in our experience. Then we like to share various demo versions back and fourth with different ideas before letting those sit in a gdrive folder for a good 2 or 3 years, doing nothing, until the time is right to play it in a room together.
The film theme came about when I (Duncan) was looking through the lyrics on the album for a suitable album title and I took that from what is essentially the last line of the last song. Seemed fitting as it’s definitely not a concept album, each song is its own stand alone piece of work, or film, if you will. But you could argue each one is about the death of something; be that a loved one, a relationship, a pet, a portion of yourself or generational hope. You know, like all great comedy.
OHMs Peak: Each member of Drearleader clearly brings something distinct to the table between the angular riffs, the rhythmic volatility, the vocal intensity, and overall atmosphere. What influences does each of you draw from and can we get a glimpse of your prior projects/bands?
Duncan: Three of us were in a band called Clone Radio about 10 years ago that was a lot more straight forward punk rock. We were young and that was a project born out of a love of music and a desire to be in a band because we thought it was cool (and it is, don’t get me wrong). Drearleader on the other hand is a project born out of necessity to cathartically work through traumas, and a lack of funds to afford regularly seeing a therapist.
Lyrically I’m as influenced by comedians like Stewart Lee or George Carlin as I am by artists like Chat Pile or Viagra Boys. The vocals themselves are always secondary to the lyrics for me, but in terms of style I’ve always been drawn to those with a distinct soulful, weathered depth. I wish I could sing like Chris Cornell or shout like Corey Taylor but I’m not that good, so we settled on a poor man’s Jim Morrison.
Matt’s guitar work is greatly influenced by effects-heavy players - like Mike Einziger of Incubus, Tom Morello, and Wes Borland - using pedals to add contrast to each section of the song. As well as wonky fuzzy riffs from Queens of the Stone Age and Mastodon among many others.
Jake’s always had one foot in bass and one in guitar, but when he took those ridiculous shoes off turns out he could actually play them. Luckily we needed a rhythm guitarist to make the big riffs big big riffs, so he ended up being a bit of a hybrid between the two. He met Sam back at uni and immediately bonded over similar music tastes (QOTSA being one of many) which led to them playing in a number of bands together (some better forgotten). Drearleader is the first project that draws more heavily from their Nu metal “phase”, so that’s been fun.
Sam would dispute it being a phase though. It’s said your core music tastes never really change past your mid teens and you need look no further for proof. While he’s been involved in bands ranging from grunge to blues, hardcore to classic rock, the angular weirdness of Mudvayne’s LD50 and raw intensity of Slipknot’s self titled held their allure and with us he gets to let that loose.
OHMs Peak: It’s nearly impossible to choose standout tracks from this album, but we must say ‘Carnivorous Dreams’ is a 10 minute plus wild ride and interestingly placed in the second spot. The build up is sensational and we feel suffocation in these “four walls” but yet a majestic openness unveils. Can you take us behind the creation of this track and the driving meaning behind it.
Duncan: They say that if you put a frog in boiling water it will jump out, but if you put it in cold water and slowly bring it up to boil, the frog will just cook. We’re all pretty cooked. Life has a way of happening around you that means you often don’t realise you’re in over your head until it’s too late. This song is a reflection on that, through both the lyrics and the music. The slow builds, the use of repetition, the relentless crescendo’s and way it wilts away at the end. It’s about the inevitable futility of pipe dreams and aspirations, but at the same time, the growth that can come from failure. Carbon lives, dies, returns to the earth and provides nutrients for the life that sprouts after it. In many ways, failure is a necessary step on the way to achieving something great. At least that’s what we keep telling ourselves.
We put it second on the album because, with a run time of over an hour, we knew pacing was going to be important. We hoped putting it there would be a way of letting the listener know they need to strap in and buckle up for the long hall. If it was a concept album, which it’s not, but if it was; track one is the opening scene where you first get introduced to the monster and we spend most of our CGI budget on showing you some gruesome gorey deaths. Then this song is the rest of act one where it’s just introducing the characters that are all obviously going to die and nothing actually happens for ages.
OHMs Peak: If you could tour with any band outside of your genre, who would be the perfect complement to your sound?
Duncan: Ed Sheeran. We hear some support slots opened up recently.
All jokes aside though: Bo Burnham, Jim E Brown, Getdown Services, Sensei Sludge. Anyone who’s blatantly tried 2 or more different types of antidepressants to little or no success.
OHMs Peak: The album artwork perfectly matches the mood of cinematic simplicity yet the album is so complex and textured. Who created the artwork, and is there a conceptual link between the imagery and the themes explored on Slow Burn Snuff Films?
Duncan: Once we had the album title settled on that helped focus ideas for the artwork. We knew we wanted to feature one of the crappy fan heaters that leave you cold the second you turn them off, kinda like this album, whilst also being expensive to operate and somewhat of a fire hazard. Also like this album. That fulfilled the “slow burn” part of things, and so burnt/damaged film reel seemed a no-brainer to complete the imagery. What you then do is take those ideas and put them in the hands of our bassist Jake, who’s a wizard at photoshop, animation, video editing and just generally turning concepts into reality. Pro tip to any struggling bands out there: get yourself a Jake. Also, get a guitarist with an encyclopaedic knowledge of music theory and guitar pedals. Also get a drummer who builds a studio in his back garden to produce, record, mix and master everything you do. For free. Really helps.
OHMs Peak: Drearleader is stranded on an island with only a solar‑powered turntable and majestic solar‑powered Bluetooth speakers. The band collectively can only choose one album. Which album do you agree to?
Duncan: Corey Feldman - Angelic 2 the Core
Mercifully though, that album has never, will never, and should never be pressed onto vinyl, so in reality we’d take Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf.
Drearleader are:
Duncan Hacker - lyrics, vocals
Sam Blighe - drums, guitar, piano, vocals
Matt Keenan - guitar, synthesizer, flute, vocals
Jake Twyman - bass guitar, acoustic guitar
Grab some Drearleader Merch
Music (vinyl, CDs, digital, shirts, etc.)
Comments