Sunflower Dead – C O M A: Track-By-Track Breakdown with Michael Del Pizzo

By Michael Del Pizzo ( SUNFLOWER DEAD)

C O M A, what a whirlwind it was making this album.  We got off tour in June of 2017 from the It’s Time To Get Weird cycle, had no drummer, no bassist, no booking agent and knew we were probably going to move forward with our sound and drop the makeup.  Lo and behold, I knew from the time we started writing this album until it’s release date would be an absolute nightmare.  I had no idea how true that thought would turn out to be.  Anyways, here is a breakdown of the 9 songs on C O M A as they relate to me…

1. “Let Me In” – There isn’t a better title for a group of guys who feel completely disrespected and purposefully left out than this, which in turn is the lyrical idea.  The title is also based off of the movie of the same name.  Musically this was a song that Jaboo handed to me 100% completed. When I heard it, I was blown away by the groove.  The vocal ideas happened very quickly.  I mean, the purpose of this new record was to focus on huge grooves, crushing guitar riffs, locking in on a darker vibe, and delivering much more weighted and emotionally honest lyrics.  This song has it all, and that’s why it starts the album.  Crushing, dark vibes and pissed off.  There was no better way to start C O M A.

2. “Victim” – Another song that was handed to me almost completely musically done, which is different for us. On the last album, we wrote around the vocals.  On this album, everything was written around the guitar riffs, which forced me to work hard as a vocalist.  Like I said, this song was handed to me almost finished and the vocal ideas just seemed to flow.  I had an inkling while writing it that this would definitely be a single (if not the first single).  When I sang my vocal ideas to the guys, they were like, oh yes, that is special.  Again, the song has a huge crushing groove with an eerie overtone, but is so completely dynamic and focused and always pummeling.  Lyrically, I was coming from a place of moving forward from many toxic people and actions, but from the emails I have already received, this song touches others on a bigger level.  Hey, right on!

3. “The Biggest Mistake” – My second proudest moment of the album.  Vocally, the guys asked me to not be afraid to ever do what a song needed.  It didn’t matter how heavy or how beautiful the vocal needed to be.  Just do it and do it without fear or worry about radio or alienating anyone.  This song in particular encompasses that specifically.  This song is so damn schizophrenic.  I literally do just about everything I can do in this song.  This song has both the heaviest moments of this album and the most serene.  Fortman (our producer) was like this song shouldn’t work, but it does and I love it.  Heavy as fuck, yet beautiful and soaring.  I mean the verse groove is so damn punishing and slinky but the bridge…HEAVY!  And what a guitar solo!!! Ask me about how Jaboo came up with the chorus vocal hook one day (haha).  Great story!

4. “Through Fire” – This is a song Jaboo and I wrote before the actual writing session of this album commenced.  It features acoustic guitar which really shouldn’t be a big deal but it’s something we haven’t done on record.  I feel that the strength of this song is a combination of the concise and dynamic songwriting combined with the lyrical value.  I have always had a feeling that I do belong somewhere (and I am making my way to that place), but to get there, I would have to go through hell.  I guess it sums up my journey in life and during the making of this record.  I say that because the guys asked me to go places that I really didn’t want to revisit.  It made doing this album beyond uncomfortable and I struggled.

5. “Savior” – This song was built off a riff idea that Jamie had from listening to an EDM track.  That’s the honest truth.  Anyways, “Savior” feels like if you took STP and Pantera and put them in a blender.  I thought I should sing the choruses, but the guys wanted me to be fearless so I just screamed my face off.  Slinkly, sexy, simple and mean.  A great track to play live.  It needs a stripper video.  Listen to it, you’ll get it, (haha).

6. “Kept Down” – The heaviest song on the record all the way through.  A great pummeling chorus which seems to sum up the feeling of this album.  It’s almost like on each song I am sitting on top of someone and just pummeling them with my fists so they get my point.  Lyrically, this song is almost a caveat to “Let Me In” in the sense that I won’t be held down.  The riffs are massive, the solo is shredding and I am screaming my face off again.  No feat right?!?!

7. “Torn In Two” – This is a song that almost didn’t make the album, but we rearranged it at the last minute and were stoked on it.  What a sexy groove it has.  Maybe the only positive tinged song (lyrically) on the album.  It expresses the feeling of the U.S. falling apart and still doing everything we can to keep it together.  It’s relatable, it pummels and Jaboo’s solo is rad!

8. “Counting All My Failures” – This album has some of my most honest lyrics ever.  The first two lines of this song hit home.  “Counting all of these failures I’ve had, seems I might need more fingers to add.”  Boom! This song grooves in a way that SFD hasn’t grooved yet, while reaching a plane of moodiness that is new to us.  It all works up to a soccer stadium, Ozzy-style chant at the end that takes a slow pummel to new levels.  A definite live staple.

9. “Turn Away”– Here it is, the moment of the album (in my opinion).  The crescendo of the album.  The piece of music that shows that SFD is a legitimate force and has something special to offer.  I lay it all on the line vocally and lyrically and the emotion comes across.  This is a song that Jaboo submitted to me one day before we started preproduction.  I yelled at him for giving it to me so late, and then I thanked him for how beautiful is was.  We have been writing songs together for a lot of years, but this one is special.  The guys didn’t hear my vocal ideas until the album was mixed.  This song vocally wrote itself.  Never have I been more proud of a musical moment then when I heard this mastered.  I mean what I am saying in this one.

So there you go, my little run down of our new album C O M A as it pertains to me.  Get this album and absorb it hard.

Thanks,

Michael – SFD

CHECK OUT THE ALBUM SAMLPER IN THE VIDEO BELOW…