Dylan Desmond Breaks Down His Three-Channel Rig on Bell Witch & Aerial Ruin’s “Stygian Bough Vol. II”

After releasing volume one in 2020, Bell Witch and Aerial Ruin have teamed up again to release Stygian Bough: Vol. II, which continues their progressive doom collaboration. The hour-long sonic exploration is split into four musical pieces that set themselves apart from each band’s catalog.

Aerial Ruin is the project of singer and guitarist Erik Moggridge, while Bell Witch is comprised of drummer Jesse Shreibman and bassist Dylan Desmond, who typically uses two-handed tapping to perform bass and melody at once. Often, Bell Witch eschews standard composition styles, instead creating extended musical journeys. Splitting the album into four parts is “as close to traditional songwriting as any of us have done together,” says Shreibman.

“We gave special attention to a lot of polyphonic passages,” Desmond adds, “which is a rarity in past (Bell Witch) records due to limitations of instrumentation, a two-piece band can only play so many instruments at once. This applies even more so to the solo act of Aerial Ruin.”

The trio composed heavy riffs and somber melodies to accompany lyrics steeped in mysticism, legend, and the examination of “the connective threads that shape and influence the culture, mythology, and customs of all human societies throughout time in unique, localized ways as referenced in the Golden Bough,” says Desmond.

The bassist has an intricate setup and we’ve got the full scoop from him. It begins with an Ibanez BTB747, which he plugs into a Lehle volume pedal, a Pettyjohn compressor, and a Soursound ABCD splitter. From there, he has three channels running to various cabinets.

Hear about the full rundown from Desmond himself:

“In Bell Witch I’ve always approached the bass guitar with the idea of recreating a bass/dual guitar trio on one instrument. To do this, I play the bass lines with my left hand and tap melodies on the right similar to a piano or Chapman Stick. I split my signal into three amplifiers –

1. SVT II representing bass and low frequencies. This one has minimal effects
2. Ampeg V4 representing the spectrum of mids with modulation and reverb
3. Verellen Loucks representing upper mids and highs with modulation and reverb.

The two guitar amps combined with different modulation patterns create a “doubling” or “dual mono” effect in the mid and high frequencies. Magic can happen in a live performance in instances such as one guitar amp falling into feedback while the other sustains a fretted note.

I’ve generally played on a six-string bass, but the past few years I’ve gotten comfortable with a seven-string. The extra high allows for notes to scream through like an electric guitar might in its upper registers.

I’m playing melody and bass lines simultaneously through three effect chains routed through a not-so-simple device I had custom-made by Soursounds in Portland, Oregon. It is a Phase Linear Distribution Amplifier, which is made to isolate and distribute signal between four outputs and a DI from one input. A few of the purposes it serves:

1. Splits signal from 1 to 4 sources
2. amplifies each source to compensate for loss of signal in split
3. has an effect loop for each channel, allowing all 4 channels to activate distortion at once instead of needing to each individual pedal.
4. can mute, change phase, change ground etc.
5. Has a DI

This device allows me to split my signal amongst three signal chains, while also sending a DI to FOH. Each chain is tailored to interact and compliment the others with the speed/depth of chorus/flanger modulation, delays, reverb etc. ”

Stygian Bough Vol. 2 is out now on CD, vinyl and as a digital download (Apple Music, and Amazon Music).

Stygian Bough: Vol. II Track List:

1. Waves Became the Sky
2. King of the Wood
3. From Dominion
4. The Told and the Leadened