Represented by Decent Music PR, Seattle’s rising goth dance punk trio Holy Death Temple returns with their blistering second single, “Survey Says” — a seething, synth-driven anthem that channels American social collapse through the dead-eyed grin of a rigged game show. Combining brooding post-punk vocals, frenetic guitars, and massive synth hooks, the track dares listeners to dance through the doom.
“We’re fucked. Let’s party.” That’s not just a tagline — it’s a mission statement. Forged in frustration, Holy Death Temple is here for catharsis. Their sound blends the cold swagger of Joy Division and Bauhaus with the punk snarl of Sex Pistols and the dancefloor domination of Daft Punk and Justice. Their latest single is equal parts rebellion and release: a bloodletting disguised as a banger.
“Media and politics profit from division while claiming to serve the people,” says frontman Bryan Edward, who started the project after leaving a post-hardcore band where the message was lost by being “too serious, and no fun.” The song’s premise – social conflict as a ratings-driven game – builds to one final answer we can all agree on: just burn it down.
Sonically, “Survey Says” flips the table on genre conventions — ditching bass guitar in favor of a punishing low-end synth that leaves room for surgical guitars, pounding drums, and the band’s signature synth-guitar hooks. With Amy Tung-Barrysmith on synths and Jon Barrysmith on drums (both of doom duo Year of the Cobra), the rhythm section propels the chaos into tightly coiled, danceable fury.
The cover art depicts the Eye of Providence on the back of a US dollar bill twisted from the symbol of creation to one of destruction, reflecting the song’s critique of power, illusion, and the inevitable fall of the American myth.
“At some point, art is more about perseverance than talent,” Bryan says of the year-long effort to get this track right. “We don’t make albums. Every song has to be its own statement. This one almost broke us, so it had to be good.”
Holy Death Temple is here to make existential dread the life of the party.
