Bloodsucker by Daph Veil is a masterpiece that reflects the disturbing direction of unhealthy relationships with a sonic accuracy. Bloodsucker does not merely refer to emotional anarchy, it is an expression of it dressed in well-considered musical transformation, an aspect that reflects psychological disintegration in real time.
The song begins with the false ease, a seductive guitar melody setting up welcoming warmth that misleads the listener of what is to be expected. The hypnotic vocals of Paula Laubach do not release their tension in the very beginning, her harmonies layered over each other giving an impression of the duality the pretty face we put on versus the fatigue simmer under the surface. The vocal style is especially effective and this is how we portray normalcy as we ourselves are dying on the inside.
The difference with Bloodsucker is its unwillingness to keep within its comfort zone. The music follows the pattern of the relationship it documents, as it goes down the drain. The first blues-based basis of it breaks and introduces the shoegaze sound, electronic, and alt-rock frenzy and bursts into the open turbulence. These shifts are punctuated by the drums, which are recorded by Joe Valadez to the visceral effect, each rise being made with physical force.
Paula carries out the performance of almost all instruments herself, resulting in very personal sonic architecture that is both controlled and almost collapsing. The production of Ice Cream Factory Studio by Matt Parmenter adds nuance to this tenuous equilibrium, contrasting instances of erotic serenity with bristling edged acrobatics with haunting atmospherical specifics. The lyrics which were co-written with Rebecca Price are devastatingly unambiguous regarding betrayal and depletion without being melodramatic in the agony.
This genre-bending proves exactly the best alternative to the story--relationships like this unhealthy do not remain within their clean categories and so does the music of Laubach. The reason why Bloodsucker thrives is that it does not expect its audience to be passive in its quest to confront the pain and it does not provide a simple answer, but simply records what is happening with the toxicity as it changes anything that it comes in contact with. It is alternating music that is pushing boundaries and does push boundaries instead of just saying so.
