DOOMSDAY PROFIT digs into a history of desperation and exploitation with “Sin Eater”
Video Premiere at The Obelisk: “Doomsday Profit is less a vision of a better future than a glimpse of the cold realities under the microplastic’ed sheen of today.”
So goes the chorus of “Sin Eater,” the latest single from DOOMSDAY PROFIT, as it paints social allegory against a backdrop of dour sludge and groove metal.
Inspired by the historical practice of sin-eating, Durham, N.C. sludge metal bruisers DOOMSDAY PROFIT offer up a gnarly platter of sludge metal incorporating ingredients from heavy psych, black metal, and punk as it underscores the exploitation and degradation the arcane ritual served alongside a paltry meal and some coins.
JJ Koczan of The Obelisk premiered the official music video, produced and directed by N.C.-based filmmaker Grayson Simon of Graydaughter Creative, noting, “‘Sin Eater’ is the penultimate track on the album, and its metaphor of the privileged using the poor as toilet paper for their souls should not be lost on the age of private space programs and ICE raids now localized to your hometown.”
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STATEMENT FROM THE BAND
“Sin eating” was a practice associated primarily with isolated towns in Wales and other parts of the British Isles — and in some parts of Appalachia, as well. In these towns, on occasions from the 16th Century until as recently as the early 19th Century, families of recently deceased persons could call upon a “sin-eater” to perform a ritual meant to ensure their loved one’s spirit would ascend to Heaven.
The sin eater — usually a poor and desperate person living on the fringes of the community — would consume a ritual meal of bread and beer that was believed to have absorbed all of the dead person’s sins. For a paltry meal, and a few coins, the sin eater would forever carry with them the sins of the deceased.
But for taking on this unseemly task, the sin eater was a pariah. The poor outcast who was exploited to do the work no one else could stomach was ironically, cast even further to the fringes of society for doing such unseemly — if self-sacrificing — work and for being tainted with the sins of others.
For us, the role of the sin eater seemed not to have been entirely lost to history. Today, powerful people continue to place blame and burden upon marginalized members of society, and exploit people’s labor and desperation to further enrich and absolve themselves.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
There’s much grief and inner turmoil one eventually comes to terms with in the undertaking of servitude that no amount of selflessness and goodwill ever prepares you for.
Through this lens, “Sin Eater” dares to slip a bitter pill of transcendental tribulation, leaving one to ask if the extent of societal expectation of self-sacrifice in full submission to a noble good is reasonable, regardless of the toil taken upon its called steward. I think these themes are driven home well by the guys in this track.
Undeniably, it’s such a universally identifiable struggle that I hope the music video encapsulates and prompts new discourse surrounding this invisible tension and burden society often goes to great lengths to conceal, ignore, and ultimately take for granted.
— Grayson Simon
Through this lens, “Sin Eater” dares to slip a bitter pill of transcendental tribulation, leaving one to ask if the extent of societal expectation of self-sacrifice in full submission to a noble good is reasonable, regardless of the toil taken upon its called steward. I think these themes are driven home well by the guys in this track.
Undeniably, it’s such a universally identifiable struggle that I hope the music video encapsulates and prompts new discourse surrounding this invisible tension and burden society often goes to great lengths to conceal, ignore, and ultimately take for granted.
— Grayson Simon
VIDEO CREDITS
Director, Director of Photography, Editor: Grayson Simon (@vernal.lamb)
Producer: Graydaughter Creative (@graydaughtercreative)
Gaffer: Evan Daniel (@evanjdaniel)
Grip: Owen Ray (@owen_makes_movies)
Production Assist: Andrew Langhans, Drew Claxton, Karolina Sandecka (@low.as.heck, @dru_____, @karolina_sandecka)
Talent Lead: Curry Davis (@curryd4)
Supporting Talent: Brittany Sweeney (@avian_anarchy_nc)
Filmed at Shadowbox Studio (@shadowbox_studio) in Durham, NC
About Doomsday Profit
There’s no time to waste. At least that’s how Doomsday Profit seems to be operating. After making their debut with the gritty stoner-sludge of 2021’s »In Idle Orbit«, the Durham, N.C.-based band issued 2024’s psych-leaning split with Virginia-based Smoke, and has kept the momentum going ever since. With their forthcoming self-titled album, Doomsday Profit now has embedded an even wider array of influences into their acerbic, dystopian sludge. Particles of monolithic doom, grisly death ‘n’ roll grooves, driving punk rock and scathing black metal all flash in the band’s raw self-titled LP.
As ever, Doomsday Profit has a finger pointed squarely at the powers that be, but they’ve also learned to turn their ire inward, and balance their vitriol with melancholic nuance. This broader approach has turned their already dynamic performances into a must-see, with a live resume that includes Hopscotch Music Festival and Seismic Summer, as well as supporting slots with established acts like Thou, The Obsessed, Black Tusk, REZN, Year of the Cobra, and Restless Spirit.
As ever, Doomsday Profit has a finger pointed squarely at the powers that be, but they’ve also learned to turn their ire inward, and balance their vitriol with melancholic nuance. This broader approach has turned their already dynamic performances into a must-see, with a live resume that includes Hopscotch Music Festival and Seismic Summer, as well as supporting slots with established acts like Thou, The Obsessed, Black Tusk, REZN, Year of the Cobra, and Restless Spirit.
On this recording, Doomsday Profit is: Bryan Reed (rhythm guitar/vocals), Kevin See (lead guitar/vocals), Ryan Sweeney (bass/vocals), and David Ruiz (drums).
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