Praise the Blade

‘I remember when they were building this shopping center,” Dark Ride singer and lyricist Emilio Menze says. “My mom would bring me here as a kid.”

I’m sitting with the band (minus drummer Briana Mota) at Village Host Pizza & Grill in Seascape. Along with photos on the walls of sports teams that the restaurant has sponsored over the years, hangs a framed copy of Dark Ride’s self-titled debut EP. So it’s only a fitting place to discuss Dark Ride’s new album, Blade Manor, released digitally and on vinyl on March 27 (and yes, Village Host now has that album framed on the wall as well). It’s an album five years in the making, put off due to the pandemic, the death of a close friend and former band member, and raising the funds to complete it.

However, Blade Manor is well worth the wait. It’s 41 minutes across 12 songs of fun, 80’s B-movie themes set to late 1990’s and early 2000’s riffs and harmonizing vocals.

“A few aspects were especially important to me,” Menze says. “I wanted the nostalgic factor, a fun playfulness, some darker songs and also songs like ‘Do or Die’ that are inspirational.”

They are goals the band hit perfectly like a nail in a coffin.

Take the song, “Rewind.” It’s an homage to the days of video stores, staying up on a Saturday night eating pizza (a Village Host pizza and box even make a cameo in the music video), watching cult and horror films. It was one of the first songs Menze wrote for the band and was meant to appear on the first EP, but didn’t make the cut.

However, the band kept it in rotation at live shows, one of several off the new album they would play for audiences long before Blade Manor dropped.

“Playing the songs before they were out gave us insight into which songs were really hitting with people and which ones weren’t,” says guitarist Ryan Heggum.

“It seems like people really enjoy ‘Life At the End of October,” adds guitarist Rob Hyodo. “It wasn’t even fully written when we went into the studio, but it felt like a masterpiece as it came together.”

Then there are tracks like “Electrocuted”.

It features the final bass recordings of Dan “Mothy/Mothman” Lamothe, Menze’s close friend and brother-in-arms when they played together in another Santa Cruz horror punk band, Stellar Corpses. Lamothe died under questionable circumstances in 2023 while training to be a fireman. It also features fellow horror punk rocker Argyle Goolsby of Blitzkid, another friend of Lamothe’s.

“It was daunting learning Mothy’s bass lines,” says bassist Jesus “Juicy” Lopez. “But when we played it the first time, something clicked, and it just felt right.”

It’s a song the band hasn’t played in public yet but looks forward to showcasing it this year at the annual Mothfest, a benefit show at Moe’s Alley on May 30 dedicated to Lamothe’s memory.

The album was recorded over the past five years at Ben Lomond’s Compound Recordings and Santa Cruz’s Noise Eater Recordings. One of the factors that makes the album so fun is the band’s camaraderie. Spend any time with a group, and it’s clear some bands don’t get along. Hell, some even outright hate one another.

Yet Dark Ride shares a bond that goes beyond the band.

“I am so stoked to be part of such a rad group of people doing this,” says Lopez. He explains that when the band toured Germany last year, it felt like they were “vacationing as a band.”

It’s a connection easily seen when spending any amount of time with the band. They tease one another like siblings, share an unbelievable amount of inner jokes, and hang out with each other on a regular basis.

“This is a collection of the funniest people I’ve ever met in my life,” Heggum says.

Hyodo agrees.

“There’s a lot of inner bandmate banter happening on stage,” he says. “And I hope people see we’re not forcing it, we genuinely enjoy playing with each other.”

Dark Ride also has a secret weapon, the hidden blade up their sleeve, their manager and merch person extraordinaire,  Adia Schamber. She’s a firm believer in using one’s strengths where they are needed. 

“I told them to focus on making good music,” she says. “And let me worry about the boxes of shirts, flights are booked and rentals are squared away.”

At the moment, Dark Ride has no shows scheduled outside of Mothfest, where they will share the stage with A Band of Orcs, Bones Shredder and Rezurex. That means there’s plenty of time to buy Blade Manor and learn the songs before their next gig.

“No matter what you’re into there will be something on this record that moves you,” Menze says. “I really wanted to write something that I would like as a fan, that would resonate with my heart and be authentic.”

 Dark Ride plays MOTHFEST May 30, 8pm, A Tribute to Dan Lamothe with Rezurex, Bones Shredder & A Band Of Orcs at Moe’s Alley , 1535 Commercial Way. Tix: $18