For Joe Cotela, frontman of Arizona heavy hitters DED, the last few years felt like limbo. Legal and label hang-ups left the band unable to release music just as the pandemic crushed momentum. “We weren’t really allowed to release music, and it was rough,” Cotela says. “It felt like something was taken away from us. But now that it’s back, it’s pretty amazing.”
That comeback arrives in the form of Resent, DED’s most furious and unfiltered album yet. Recorded largely in their own Phoenix studio, without a producer’s polish, the record captures the band’s rawest DNA. “It’s the most unfiltered version of DED we’ve put out,” the singer says. “We put all our influences into it—super heavy stuff, but also melody, punk, industrial, even hip-hop. It’s a record I’d love to discover if I wasn’t in the band.”
Resent thrives on duality. The face-peeling riffs and throat-shredding vocals are counterbalanced by hooks and lyrical depth that dig into self-reflection, breaking negative patterns, and finding light in darkness. “I’ve always loved music with an empowering message underneath it,” Cotela explains. “Angry music can still be positive. I’m frustrated things aren’t better, but I try to offer solutions. The change starts inside each of us.”
That balance is reflected in Cotela’s personal practices—daily breath work, meditation, and long walks—as much as in his lyrics. “Music is a safe place,” he says. “It’s where you go to escape the world, reflect, and express yourself. You can’t create from fear.”
The new record also brings high-profile friends into the fold: Chad Gray of Mudvayne, Chris Motionless of Motionless in White, and Danny Leal of Upon a Burning Body. Cotela insists these weren’t clout-driven cameos, but organic collaborations. “I told Chad, ‘I don’t want your name for radio—I just want to make something super heavy with you.’ And he was all about it.”
DED will put Resent to the test this fall on the Black Mass Tour with In This Moment, Dayseeker, and The Funeral Portrait, a six-week run that lands just as spooky season hits. Before that, the band makes a high-profile festival return at Louder Than Life the day the album drops.
After years in the wilderness, Cotela says DED are both battle-hardened and rejuvenated. “We’re kind of reintroducing ourselves to the world,” he says. “This record is powerful, and we back it wholeheartedly. Now we just want to put it out, let people hear it, and see how it connects.”
WATCH THE THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH JOE COTELA FROM DED BELOW!