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Interview with Austin Mayan of VIVID DARK: Crafting Tech-Death Perfection with Usurper

By capitalchaostv on January 12, 2025 • ( 0 )

When you hear a tech-death release that sounds as dialed-in and dynamic as Usurper, it’s easy to assume there’s a full team of musicians and years of studio experience behind it. But in the case of Maryland’s Vivid Dark, it’s largely the brainchild of one man: Austin Mayan.

We sat down with Austin to talk about the writing process behind Usurper, working with session musicians, musical influences, gear preferences, and what’s next for Vivid Dark.

Tom:
This is Tom Sundgren with Capital Chaos TV, and I’m here today with Austin Mayan from Vivid Dark, out of Maryland. What city in Maryland are you based out of?

Austin:
I’m in Pittsville, Maryland—kind of the middle of nowhere.

Tom:
Right on. So we’re talking about Usurper, which came out almost two months ago now, right?

Austin:
Yeah, coming up on that.

Tom:
Is it pronounced “Usurper” like to usurp the throne?

Austin:
Exactly.

Tom:
Awesome. Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with us about it. Man, such a killer release. So much going on in just five tracks—it feels like the perfect length for an EP. Sometimes bands only put out three tracks and it just feels like a teaser, leaving you wondering where else they could’ve gone.

Austin:
Totally. I had a hard time deciding when to stop writing, but five felt right. You get a full experience—track three is the midpoint, and the last track is instrumental, which I think was a nice way to close it. I’m happy with how it turned out.

Tom:
That last song might actually be my favorite. It’s super epic, the songwriting is tight, the solos are tasteful—it takes some cool twists and turns.

Austin:
Thanks, man. I always joke that track is the “we have In Fury at home” version of a song. You know that meme where the kid wants something specific and the parent says, “We have that at home,” and it’s a knock-off?

Tom:
[Laughs] Yeah, I get it. That track actually reminded me a bit of early Inferi, some Black Dahlia Murder, some Necrophagist, and then your own twist on it. It’s just killer. Can’t wait to hear more. Can you take me back to the inception of Vivid Dark? When did you start writing for it?

Austin:
Sure. I’ve been playing guitar for about 21 years, but for whatever reason, I never really recorded anything until recently. There was always a disconnect when it came to actually sitting down with a DAW and recording. But eventually, I just decided to do it. I bought the gear and worked through the learning curve, and Usurper is what came out of it.

I got a new seven-string guitar in January of 2023 and wrote all the songs on that. I didn’t plan on doing anything with it beyond writing music for myself—but here we are, two years later, doing an interview about it.

Tom:
Hell yeah.

Austin:
I started demoing songs, but finding a drummer was the hardest part. I’m not a drummer and programming drums for tech death is rough. Eventually, I hit up Casey from Odious Construct on Instagram. I asked if he was available for session work, and by chance, he had just posted about being open to it. It was serendipitous, really.

Tom:
That’s awesome.

Austin:
Yeah, and the guy who mixed and mastered Usurper, Eric, actually used to work with my dad. He asked my dad if I was still making music, and that sparked the idea to start recording seriously.

Tom:
It’s wild how one comment or one person can kind of give you that push, right?

Austin:
Exactly. Music can be nebulous. You don’t always know where it’s going. I wrote everything sitting right here—same spot I always post guitar clips from. I probably scrapped 40 minutes of music before landing on what became Usurper. Sometimes I need to work through bad ideas to get to the good ones.

Tom:
Right. Like the song Daedalus—that middle section is just wild. The tapping part is insane.

Austin:
Thanks. That one came together in a single night. Same with Ephemeral. Others took months and ended up in the trash. One of the new EP songs started as a riff I tried to turn into a full song for six months. It wasn’t clicking, so I deleted everything and started over. That same day, I wrote a totally new track that worked.

Tom:
It’s cool how the writing process evolves. Does the group give feedback during writing?

Austin:
Yeah. I’m into a lot of stuff—power metal, prog, black metal, all that. But I want the final sound to be focused. Getting feedback from the rest of the group helps make sure it doesn’t get too scattered.

Tom:
Totally. Like First Fragment—they have a specific, recognizable sound. You hear them and instantly know it’s them.

Austin:
Exactly. I want to avoid sounding like a completely different band from release to release.

Tom:
So, pronunciation check—Daedalus, right? The dad of Icarus?

Austin:
Yeah, he made the wings that melted when Icarus flew too close to the sun.

Tom:
Got it. I was listening to that track while running earlier. It reminded me of an old band called Boarer from 2004. I’ll send them to you—you’d probably dig them.

Austin:
Absolutely.

Tom:
Let’s talk gear. What axe are you using?

Austin:
It’s a Rusty Cooley signature model from Ormsby. I’m a big Rusty Cooley nerd. It’s a five-piece neck, 27 frets, just an all-around monster guitar. I have another one on order—neon yellow, total ’80s shredder vibes.

Tom:
27 frets? That’s insane.

Austin:
Yeah, I didn’t think I’d use all the extra frets, but now I can’t go back. It’s great for tapping and range.

Tom:
Do you tune standard B on that seven-string?

Austin:
Yep. B standard. I’ve played around with drops, but I always come back to B.

Tom:
Back to your lineup—Casey did the drums, right?

Austin:
Yeah, those drums are programmed, but written by Casey. He just killed it. Eric, who mixed it, also tweaked velocities and made it sound super realistic.

Tom:
Sounds like real drums to me!

Austin:
That’s the goal. I hope one day we can re-record it with live drums.

Tom:
And your vocalist—Troy Giordano—how did that come together?

Austin:
We’ve been friends since sixth grade. First person I ever jammed with. He’s a multi-instrumentalist who’s done everything from hip-hop to rock. Usurper was his first time doing death metal vocals.

Tom:
He crushed it. Especially the highs and those blackened shrieks.

Austin:
That’s exactly what I wanted—like if First Fragment and Demon King had a baby.

Tom:
How do you usually write—Guitar Pro, or jamming?

Austin:
Mostly jamming. I did Guitar Pro tabs for Daedalus and started Ephemeral, but honestly, it eats into guitar time. I’ll record demos or even voice memos—Ephemeral started from me humming a riff into my phone at work.

Tom:
Old-school approach. That’s awesome.

Austin:
Yeah, my wife is used to it now. I’ll pause movies to run to my guitar and get an idea down.

Tom:
She’s a trooper!

Austin:
She comes from a family of guitar players, so luckily she gets it.

Tom:
Did you play bass on Usurper too?

Austin:
Yeah, but I don’t love playing bass. I did it out of necessity. That said, I’m excited to say we have someone new handling bass going forward. Much more qualified than me.

Tom:
Hell yeah. That little tapped bass run in Brace of Pneuma is insane.

Austin:
Oh man, that part was brutal to record. I was getting sick while doing it too. Worst timing ever.

Tom:
The grind is real!

Austin:
Yep.

Tom:
Do you see Vivid Dark going live?

Austin:
I’d love to. The biggest challenge is finding a live drummer who can pull it off. But we’ll see. I have a strong live lineup forming.

Tom:
And the next EP—how’s it sounding compared to Usurper?

Austin:
It’s a continuation but leans more into the neoclassical vibe. More nods to First Fragment and Epitaph. Still tech death, but a little more refined and focused.

Tom:
The solos on Usurper were what caught my attention first—super expressive, not just shred for the sake of shred.

Austin:
Thanks. That means a lot. I want people to hum the solos, not just be impressed.

Tom:
Mission accomplished. We’ll wrap it here. Thanks again, Austin. Anything you want to shout out?

Austin:
Big thanks to you for having me, and to everyone who’s checked out Usurper. New music is on the way.