INDUSTRIAL / GOTH METAL AUTEUR STAYTUS
CRACKS THE WHIP WITH
“DEPRAVITY BITES”
Staytus is the musical alter-ego of Arizona-based recording prodigy Sam Grundemann, who fuses the immersive sensibility of gaming culture and the moody, stylized futurism of anime with Gen X-inspired angst, all set to a serrated electro-industrial goth metal soundtrack.
A black-winged avatar come to deliver reckoning for the onslaught of challenges today’s young adults have to navigate, Grundemann’s ability to translate trauma, betrayal, heartbreak, grief and anxiety into sound from a non-neurotypical perspective arrives not a moment too soon.
“Depravity Bites,” the latest single from her upcoming sophomore full-length Wasteland of Broken Hearts, goes for an even starker edge than previous single “Lovesick.” The “Depravity Bites” video sees Grundemann incorporating BDSM imagery for the first time, alternating between a whip and the guitar that has become the centerpiece of her sonic arsenal. Once again, Grundemann shows that she can match her prodigious DAW chops with a burgeoning sense of songcraft.
For Grundemann—a multi-instrumentalist who acquired multiple recording degrees and certifications by the ripe old age of 17—riffing, writing, programming, recording and sound-design all derive from the same creative life force that fires her imagination. And the high-resolution, surround-like ambience of her music demands that we make a distinction between bedroom producer and auteur. With her vision growing by leaps and bounds, Grundemann has crafted album that grips your attention from start to finish and unfolds much like a film.
In an age where the full-length album is supposedly dead and buried, Grundemann is doggedly striving to revive the epic appeal of Nine Inch Nails’ classic double album The Fragile. She also unabashedly wears the influence of groups like KoRn, Orgy, Kittie, Black Dresses and How To Destroy Angels on her sleeve. If there’s one act poised to give nu metal a modern makeover so that the familiar riffs, grooves and attitude hit us as fresh and stylish to us again, it’s Staytus.
Photo Gallery
Photo Credit:
Disease Of The Mind
Track Lyrics
so this is how it has to be?
the space between you and me
sew my ears and burn my eyes
so i don’t have to hear your lies
take me to the ocean
i am ready to drown
a scream and a cry
all a muffled sound
retry the past
engage my line of sight
don’t be a hero
die staring into the light
no need to fear
absolute terror
no need to kill
absolute error
no need to thrill
absolute better
no need to fear
absolute terror
no need to fear
absolute terror
no need to kill
absolute error
no need to thrill
absolute better
no need to fear
absolute terror
doubt your mouth
heading down
you’re a while away
so don’t make a sound
i have to play my part
before i depart
finish what i start
break my own heart
exit wounds have a place you know
the rising tidal waves will grow
keep my head above the water
for i always wanted to be your daughter
no need to fear
absolute terror
no need to kill
absolute error
no need to thrill
absolute better
no need to fear
absolute terror
no need to fear
absolute terror
no need to kill
absolute error
no need to thrill
absolute better
no need to fear
absolute terror
take me to the other side break me and open up my mind shake me for the truth inside wake me up and open up my mind some things here are part of me always here and meant to be never meant to disagree you will never be part of me an echo in space a line upon my face an echo in space we'll never see your face an echo in space cannot embrace an echo in space we'll never see your face again free from a critical design another not like its own kind just a great deception of a lustful infection you gave this all to me I applaud your indecency can't wait to see your great decline it might be the last of mine an echo in space a line upon my face an echo in space we'll never see your face an echo in space cannot embrace an echo in space we'll never see your face again we'll never see your face again we'll never see your face again we'll never see your face again we'll never see your face again
the thumping in my heart
is tearing me apart
aching to stop and start
my pulse is my only friend
worn out, sick, and tired
a thousand faces who I’ve admired
all of your blood rushes to me
you are my veins and my arteries
an impulse rushes through my chest
the beating I cannot resist
so many more will come next
chasing a fantasy that does not exist
an impulse rushes through my chest
the beating I cannot resist
a throbbing ache that never rests
has me bound by the wrist
oh, arrhythmia
oh, arrhythmia
oh, arrhythmia
I’m going hysterical
never felt so vulnerable
the beating in my head
is better left off unsaid
it’s not intentional
might not be ethical
I’m asking the hotline
for a flatline
an impulse rushes through my chest
the beating I cannot resist
so many more will come next
chasing a fantasy that does not exist
an impulse rushes through my chest
the beating I cannot resist
a throbbing ache that never rests
has me bound by the wrist
oh, arrhythmia
oh, arrhythmia
oh, arrhythmia
all it’s worth and all is lost
ending now what is a cost
open your heart and see
the stent between you and me
now don’t ever pretend you loved me
I can never be what you want me to be
an impulse rushes through my chest
the beating I cannot resist
so many more will come next
chasing a fantasy that does not exist
an impulse rushes through my chest
the beating I cannot resist
a throbbing ache that never rests
has me bound by the wrist
oh, arrhythmia
oh, arrhythmia
oh, arrhythmia
I can crawl away but it's here to stay everything I've lost comes back anyway hold me close and don't let go did I lie? well I don't know everyone has a place you know stop breathing and just let go all the words you say won't make them crawl away always here to bring pain and suffering never be the same only one to blame all the words you say won't make them crawl away don't let me go don't let me go don't let me go don't let me it'll be okay always here to stay momentary bliss holds me back anyway I hold you in sympathy dying alone doesn't matter to me tearing apart all I've felt save your ugly smile for someone else all the words you say won't make them crawl away always here to bring pain and suffering never be the same only one to blame all the words you say won't make them crawl away
always the same who am i? just one to blame try to leave and try to stay nothing else marks the decay they hold a past for us to stay in an open wound full of decay is it enough to disobey the rotten mouth which spouts decay future's past turned away art and truth lost in a haze is it enough to disobey the rotten mouth which spouts decay we need it now don't know where you've been all in all lost in sin try to see and try to do everything comes back to you they hold a past for us to stay in an open wound full of decay is it enough to disobey the rotten mouth which spouts decay future's past turned away art and truth lost in a haze is it enough to disobey the rotten mouth which spouts decay honest everything can't you see me they hold a past for us to stay in an open wound full of decay is it enough to disobey the rotten mouth which spouts decay future's past turned away art and truth lost in a haze is it enough to disobey the rotten mouth which spouts decay
i hate myself more than you trying to copy the things you do when all is said and done what on earth have i become? i want to stay true to myself but i've become someone else i want to stay true to myself but you've turned me into something else don't die you're always right don't die i'll never fight to blindly wander across the world i'm not your manic pixie dream girl in search of what i dreamt of you why is it so hard to commit to? i want to stay true to myself but i've become someone else i want to stay true to myself but you've turned me into something else don't die you're always right don't die i'll never fight
you hurt me so well
don’t you think I can tell
an emotional dullness
a crooked sense of forgiveness
maybe it’s time to wake up
maybe it’s time to wake up
maybe it’s time to wake up
maybe it’s time to wake up
I stay awake I cannot take it anymore
all the hate and the pain and open sores
I peel away all the skin that I tore
I stay awake I cannot take it anymore
I stay awake I cannot take it anymore
I stay awake I cannot take it anymore
I sink into another world
another place and time
where you can’t reach me
but now I can’t go back
to where I was
I dreamed a hundred years too long
and I woke up dead
wake up dead do it over again
wake up dead do it over again
wake up dead do it over again
wake up dead do it over again
I stay awake I cannot take it anymore
all the hate and the pain and open sores
I peel away all the skin that I tore
I stay awake I cannot take it anymore
I just want my chance at redemption again
again, again, again, again
I just want my chance at redemption again
again, again, again, again
go away i don't need you here all that's wrong is faced with fear the expectations of what i once had they all keep coming back in the end the end the end the end i just want something to be proud of but all i know is nothing else i just need your validation ripping apart how i felt i'm not at smart as i used to be maybe to you maybe it's because i can never follow through but i'm still the greatest fucking thing that ever happened to you why won't you leave me alone? i just want something to be proud of but all i know is nothing else i just need your validation ripping apart how i felt don't let me die here time runs out, time runs out, time runs out time runs out, time runs out, time runs out time runs out, time runs out, time runs out
everytime i look at your face
i want to hold you in my embrace
everytime i hear your voice
i feel like i have no other choice
look through my soul forever more
i’m falling into the nevermore
look through my soul forever more
i’m falling into the nevermore
look through my soul forever more
i’m falling into the nevermore
look through my soul forever more
i’m falling into the nevermore
i have a scar where my heart once was
why didn’t you choose me?
you’re a painful reminder
of what i want to be
i have a burning in my head
and i am wired to obey
the endless times i think of you
you’re all that matters to me
look through my soul forever more
i’m falling into the nevermore
look through my soul forever more
i’m falling into the nevermore
look through my soul forever more
i’m falling into the nevermore
look through my soul forever more
i’m falling into the nevermore
i’ll never let you go
i’ll never let you go
i’ll never let you go
look through my soul forever more
i’m falling into the nevermore
look through my soul forever more
i’m falling into the nevermore
look through my soul forever more
i’m falling into the nevermore
look through my soul forever more
i’m falling into the nevermore
nobody cares about me
my own source of dopamine
crawling from the place i rest
my mind lays here incompetent
emotionless cold stiff disgrace
a blank expression upon my face
i shine in a world of dirtiness
i matter when your world is meaningless
endless nameless strong again
you will never be my only friend
may god have mercy on your soul
all that is gold
is sure to fold
i can never see the light again
consumed by an appetite for sin
my life has come to an end
please be my only friend
heartache hotel
hell in a handbasket
so done and well
body in a casket
into the forest behind the trees i've given my life bent on both knees lurking around circling my path succumb to my beautiful aftermath you never served me well i still think that i can tell everyone is empty except for me everything all of it nothing none of it everything all of it nothing none of it everything all of it nothing none of it everything all of it nothing none of it you stretch beyond a thousand miles innocent and feeble like a child fuck my smile off my face cut my tongue words are hate you never served me well i still think that i can tell everyone is empty except for me everything all of it nothing none of it everything all of it nothing none of it everything all of it nothing none of it everything all of it nothing none of it a glimmer in my eye don't you think i can try go away from here crawl away from here
i wanna know makes you tick
i wanna know what makes you sick
i wanna know what kills your mind
i wanna know how you died inside
it’s just not right how you
step all over me
i can never tell
are you a part of me?
you know it’s no use
i want you in my arms
but i can see
what you are doing to me
oh, please
i wanna know what you collect
i wanna know that you won’t reject
i wanna see you object
to what i wanna do to you
it’s just not right how you
step all over me
i can never tell
are you a part of me?
you know it’s no use
i want you in my arms
but i can see
what you are doing to me
oh, please
i don’t know what the hell i’ve been through
but every step that i take
brings me closer to you
i don’t know why
i play your game
it seems you are more
than i can take
every night i hope and pray
you’ll leave me alone
and it was all a mistake
why do you do this to me?
why do you do this to me?
are you really that far gone?
can you ever move on?
are you really that far gone?
can you ever move on?
are you really that far gone?
can you ever move on?
are you really that far gone?
can you ever move on?
nothing to say
nowhere to go
everything else ends up so
i feel so fake and faded
everybody else is jaded
what’s the point in anything?
i’ll never be as good as you
i don’t know why i try
i just want to-
burning pages from my manifesto
i don’t know what comes next
take your time and ridicule me
see how far that takes you
are you really that far gone?
can you ever move on?
are you really that far gone?
can you ever move on?
are you really that far gone?
can you ever move on?
are you really that far gone?
can you ever move on?