Deathconsciousness

Bandmember Dan Barrett was quoted as saying, "The lyrics were written simultaneously with the songs, though I tend to work in scraps... I'm constantly writing, then culling pieces that I think fit the music to build entire songs around. At the time I had a job where I would have to be into work at 4:30 in the morning, alone in a giant building, at a desk in front of a giant window. I wrote reams and reams during that time."[9]

In an online Q&A session, Dan Barrett comments on the notoriously lo-fi sound achieved on the album. Mentioning how "a lot of Deathconsciousness was recorded through the pinhole mic on [his] laptop".[10]

The album's style has been described as dark ambient and gothic-rock; it's tone "apocalyptic".[11] Deathconciousness is a concept album;[12] Jayson Heller of Pitchfork said the thesis of the album is that "Existence is bleak, gallows humor undergirds it, and sometimes wallowing in that sick paradox is the best revenge".[13]

Alongside the album, a 70-page booklet was released.[14]

Despite expecting it to linger in obscurity,[15] the album has, in the years following its release, gained a substantial cult following, especially in online music communities such as 4chan's /mu/, the website's imageboard for musical discussion where it is considered an "essential" album.[1][15] The album is also acclaimed on the Reddit community: r/Indieheads.[15] Mike LeSuer of Flood magazine described the album as a "meme-worthy cultural moment".[16] As of 2019, the album had been re-issued seven times.[15] Also in 2019, the band performed the album in its entirety at the Dutch metal festival Roadburn.[15]

The opening track "A Quick One Before the Eternal Worm Devours Connecticut" was sampled by American rapper Lil Peep on his song "Shiver", about which bandmember Tim Macuga remarked, “I recorded that guitar part in my bathtub and now it’s on the front page of Us Weekly for a rapper’s eulogy.”[17]

All tracks are written by Dan Barrett and Tim Macuga.