On his first release of new music in over 15 years, Dax Riggs returns with 7 Songs For Spiders, a collection of ominous meditations on spirituality, love, death, and what lies beyond. Having started his career with the death/sludge outfit Acid Bath (who are also returning this year) and branching out to more blues rock with deadboy and the Elephantmen before going solo, Riggs had developed a devoted following in the early 2000’s. Having gone radio silent over the last decade-plus, 7 Songs For Spiders is a delightful surprise.
Recorded at his home studio in deep “Cajun Hell” Louisiana with Lucas Broussard (guitar, synth), Kane Cormier (bass), and Scott Domingue (percussion), 7 Songs For Spiders captures the pretty/bleak contradictions presented in Riggs solo work, but also acts as a new musical path as layers of synths, distortion, and slow percussion wash over his hypnotic vocals.
The album opens and closes with the most uptempo efforts as “Deceiver” pummels ears with thudding electro bass and drums that rattle speakers before rising along with gloriously soaring vocals from Riggs. “Graveyard Soul” uses heavy, head-bopping drums and chugging guitar to wrap up the record with junkyard smiles and graveyard eyes. In between those bookends, Riggs opts for slow crawling tension, that creaks and howls as tunes progress.
“Sunshine felt the darkness smile” is meditative, with layers of synths around lyrics that examine Jesus and Lucifer; the slow-building “ain’t that darkness” creeps forward from the tomb. At the same time “even the stars fall” is excellently buzzy goth dance music for angels and demons alike. The hypnotic “pagan moon” would have worked perfectly in that scene in True Detective season one, episode two, when Rust and Marty find the burned-out church; creepy and unsettling yet also spiritual and cosmic. Perhaps “blues for you know who” sums up Riggs’ style the best. His gorgeous gothic voice echoes beautifully while the pulsing sound, warbling distortion, and feedback scuzzy up the swelling folk ballad as he toes the line between beautiful and grotesque. It is great to have Dax Riggs back crafting interesting music in 2025 as 7 Songs For Spiders echoes through the canyons and the heavens.
