M-Theory Audio is proud to present the second album, and first for M-Theory Audio, from Verni. If that name sounds familiar it is the solo project of legendary bassist DD Verni, better known as the bassist and a founding member of thrash metal legends Overkill. DD has held the bottom-end of Overkill for four decades and been key in writing the band’s material and overseeing much of their business over the years. Verni gives DD the chance to step more into the spotlight and express himself without limitations. Much like his first solo album, 2018’s ‘Barricade,’ DD wrote all the songs while singing, and playing guitar and bass. While this album bears some resemblance to ‘Barricade’, DD lets his punk roots shine through on this album, which leads to 11 blistering tracks chock full of electrified songs and infectious sing-alongs.
“This one has been a long time comin’, so psyched to finally do a punk-ish record,” he says. “The best thing about these solo ventures is to be able to try out different stuff. When Covid came I found I had a lot of time in the studio, which is not normally the case, so I used it to really ramp up on writing stuff and getting to some things on my bucket list done…this was one of ‘em,” explains DD. “The mantra for the record was write it like a punk band and play it like a metal band. So, when I was writing there was no palm mutes or metal twinged anything, all wide-open Ramones chords and then big melodies, then I came back later and started to add in the metal flavor, and more how I typically play guitar. I asked Jason Bittner (Overkill, Shadows Fall) to do the drums ‘cause I knew he would kill it, and told him the same thing — play it like you would do it… only parameter I had was no double-kick, which I think kind of made it interesting for him too, because that’s out of his norm too.”
The first single, ‘Lunkhead’, is out now, and it gives a good indication of where this project is heading.
“I did most of the solos, but I knew I didn’t want to do ‘em all. I thought about the last solo record I did where I had kinda a lot of shredders, and that didn’t make sense on a lot of these songs. So, I started to think outside the box, who do I know who can slip from punk to metal easily? I’m drivin around spinning stuff that is kinda punk/metal mix, like Volbeat, Motorhead, some of Metallica’s Misfits covers etc and SOD comes on… and I’m like, oh yeah forgot about them, and I love that SOD record! Who doesn’t? I remember the credits saying Charlie Benante – drums and one solo and so I thought… I wonder if Charlie would do it? I reached out and he was into it, so I sent him a few tunes. He gravitated to ‘Lunkhead’ and just went for it. It’s great, I think! I wish he had the time to do more of ‘em. So, for the lead song of the album, it’s a bass player and 2 drummers doing all the tracks hahaha! Awesome!”
In addition to Benante, Verni have enlisted a few more famous friends throughout the forthcoming record, including the diverse bunch of Virus (Dope), Michael Romeo (Symphony X) and Charlie Calv (Angel) on a few more select tracks. The album, entitled ‘Dreadful Company,’ is a glimpse into another side of DD who even produced and engineered it, with mixing and mastering by Zeuss (Hatebreed, Municipal Waste, Soulfly) and cover artwork/design by Travis Smith (Opeth, Devin Townsend, Nevermore).
‘Dreadful Company’ will be released July 26th on Digital, CD and limited-edition vinyl.
Spin ‘Lunkhead’ right here: