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from RIP magazine, June 1991 (Fresh Blood)
[Rereading this short RIP article always makes me a little sad because Dawn is no longer with us, and for a while we were great pals. She was intense, funny, unpredictable and now that I look back on it, pretty obviously doomed. I recall seeing her at a club one night — I think it was Club Lingerie — and she had a bottle of 151 rum that she was drinking straight out of the bottle. Even back then, when outrageous consumption seemed common, that was a little over the top. My relationship with Dawn was close but casual, so I never knew what demons drove her until her liver finally succumbed in 1996, when she was just 33. Here's an example of what our friendship was like: one night I was at the Rainbow, hanging out with a band that was busy trying to set off fireworks in the escargot shells left over from my appetizer. I was having a lot of fun, but I needed to leave because Fear Of God was playing at the Country Club and I really wanted to see them. After the show, I told Dawn about my raucous dinner at the Rainbow and she said, "You mean you left that to come see me? You must really love me!" And actually yes, she was right, I did.]
"Fear is faith in the negative." I was shocked to discover that was one of singer Dawn Crosby's favorite homilies, because I had come up with the same idea about a year before meeting her and guitarist Mike Carlino. It's one of those coincidences that gives you goose bumps; a moment of synchronicity that makes you wonder if "coincidence" is just an indicator of the timeliness of fate. Within the Veil, Fear Of God's Warner Brothers' debut, lends itself to such deeply abstract thoughts. The music combines speed metal with trancelike tribal pounding and an industrial drone. Above it all, Dawn's voice floats like a malevolent spectre, forcefully expressing harsh commentary on society and the human condition. This is heady stuff, but its impact is as emotional as it is intellectual.
Fear Of God had its beginnings in Detente, a heavy-metal band Dawn fronted. In spite of being a woman, Dawn found that L.A. headbangers easily warmed up to her. "We played with Beowolf and D.R.I.," she recalls. "I got a lot of respect after that show, because I didn't act like, 'Oh, I'm just this wimp up here, oh dear.' I was screaming at them. I had my flannel shirt on, and my Discharge shirt — that's all I needed!"
The group released an album on Metal Blade, and then Dawn, while searching for a new guitarist, found Mike. The two started writing together, and the songs they created transcended Dawn's heavy roots and Mike's progressive influences. With the addition of bassist Blair Darby and drummer Steve Cordova, the music got even stranger and more inventive.
Warner Brothers wanted the band, but they had to find it first. Dawn and Mike had relocated to New Jersey for a period of time, and it was a year before the label tracked them down. The two moved back to L.A. and coproduced their record with Pat Regan.
What, exactly, is the meaning behind the album's title? Says Dawn, "Within the Veil is very esoteric. You could think it would be a good thing, but the veil could also be a smothering, suffocating layer of distraction and decay." Perhaps that's something to think about, but it's even better to listen to Fear Of God's music and just feel it.
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