The Permutation Lab's "The Reanimation of Bela" reimagines Bela Lugosi's Dead in an orchestration that makes it their own while giving complete respect to its origins. Though it follows the original's structure, it takes it into Hell's world of combining bombastic percussion, punk rock bass, metal guitar, and an experimental instrument tagged as a "COVIsynth." Hell has wanted to do a version of this song since it was originally released when he was 18 years old and couldn't have imagined that this would be the arrangement, and team, he would have for it 41+ years later.

This is not a cover of Bela Lugosi's Dead. It is a respectful honoring of it. Hell's main intention was to create an evolving composition versus making it into a dance track, although the track is certainly as "grooveable" as the incredibly mind-blowing original being honored.

The samples are from the 1942 Bela Lugosi movie, "The Corpse Vanishes." Some are meant to articulate a message and some function as texture to be felt more than heard.

The team of Darryl Hell (Abstinence), Steven Archer (Stoneburner), Dan Milligan (The Joy Thieves), Billy Latshaw (Latshaw) brings Bela to life in a whole new way. When Hell brought the team together, his vision was to bring all of the elements of his world into this track; blending the funk/prog rock roots of his childhood in the early 1970s, the energy of his developing years as a musician [bass player] playing hardcore punk rock in the late 70s/early 80s, and the experimental electronic tools for sonic orchestration he had focused on from 1985 to present. The prog rock component to Hell's development rarely gets a chance to show itself. [To be clear, this is the best example of the prog rock that influenced Hell [Google "Midnight Special (1975) Frankenstein" For context, it was at a time when the song "Kung Fu Fighting" was in the top 10!]

With the combination of musicians from such diverse backgrounds, and with Hell's over 5 decades of developing an independent experimental compositional style [and 6 decades of lived influences] how should it be described? As "punk rock-prog rock-death rock-noise rock-metal-industrial-junglishiousness!" 🤣

Each collaborator was given a challenge by Hell;
- Dan was told to "...use Square Pusher's 'Big Loada' as your primary influence for programming drums... Think punk/prog rock work on the toms to be played acoustically." FYI - Absolutely no easy feat. He killed it. They perfectly intertwine, making a wall of beats and energy that serve as a strong backbone for the work. He pulled it directly from Hell's mind to [y]our ears.
- Steven was asked to use the instrument he created, designed, and built during the partial quarantine period of COVID. It brought a unique noise sound that was perfect for the work. He later offered to do vocs, and Hell [who originally intended on doing the vocals alone] saw the interesting opportunity to do a duet with someone, which isn't really a thing punks seek out, and decided to have them collaborate on the vocs, further rarifying the concept. Steven's almost orchestral vocal approach and Hell's combination of growled/sung vocal styles complement each other.
- Billy came from Hell's childhood, and had worked with Abstinence in the late 1980s. After reconnecting on Facebook in the 20-teens, not seeing each other since the mid 1990s, Billy had offered to collaborate on something a few years before COVID. Hell was reminded about him by seeing a post of him doing a Yngwie Malmsteen challenge video...perfectly! He knew the vibe that was needed for this specific work, and100% nailed it.

Hell is beyond honored to have these extremely talented and dope collaborators to bring this to fruition. We hope you enjoy it.