May 31st, 2026
Darth Presley: Bandcamp, Spotify, Facebook, Insta: @darthpresley_americanhero, TikTok: @darthpresley
Who is Darth Presley? No one really knows. The only clue we have is short dispatch written on the back of a manual for an ACMI M3-70A GOLD Endoscope . . .
I have had some horribly disturbing waking dreams of being a monstrous apparition, part-man, but mostly machine; soulless and demonic, terrorizing man and beast alike with sounds unlike any other, sounds that alternately inspire and chill, lifting spirits only to dash them again on some distant rocky shore comprised of dissonance and psychotic visions. I am haunted by sizable blackouts, what some refer to as lost time, and frequently awaken in unknown locations, smelling of Malört and regret with nothing to explain my activities save for a plectrum and a few patch chords.
What is the H.E.A.P.? That is far easier to answer. H.E.A.P. stands for the Heuristic Electronic Algorthimic Philharmonic. It is a system of computer programs (written in PureData), synthesizers, samplers, video synthesizers, and drum machines that provide the groove that Darth Presley and his musical miscreants lay down their funkilicious stylings upon. H.E.A.P. is also used to describe the band as a whole.
What is up with the video? The video is generated by the Sleepy Circuits Hypno (shout out to the Digital Innovation Lab at Stonehill College for their support through a Digital Innovation Grant). The Hypno is a video synthesizer which is being controlled by the same algorithms used to generate the accompaniment, hence the video changes in time to the music. The Hypno is, in this instance, being used to process source video, which comes from the 1925 silent film The Lost World.
What is Monstrum Pacificum Bellicosum? That my friends (I hope I’m not taking any liberties here), is the forthcoming album by Darth Presley and Slash Gordon. Currently four tracks from the album have been released on Bandcamp. New tracks are released once every couple of weeks, so stay tuned! The complete version of the album will be released in December 2026 (or thereabouts). Monstrum Pacificum Bellicosum is not a collection of songs in the conventional sense. It is a collection of grooves that can be improvised on.
This afternoon Darth Presley and the H.E.A.P. will be performing tracks from Monstrum Pacificum Bellicosum. Each tune on the setlist is precisely three minutes and twenty seconds long. That combined with the tempi may aid you in keeping up with the setlist, should you care to follow along.
Setlist:
Barghest (88 bpm)
Roc (100 bpm)
Delver (96 bpm)
Windghost (120 bpm)
Yagnoloth (112 bpm)
Wyste (80 bpm)
Slaad (104 bpm)
Aboleth (88 bpm)
Rampager (95 bpm)
Catoblepas (80 bpm)
Achaierai (72 bpm)
Moonbeast (132 bpm)
Hydra (65 bpm)