Blood & Bones and Neon Dark join forces on Elysium on Empty, a powerful collaborative album exploring exploitation, resilience, and identity. In this interview, they discuss creativity, anger, hope, and artistic innovation.
1.
“Crown of Leeches / Pump and Dump” serves as the first glimpse into Elysium on
Empty. Why did you choose these two tracks to introduce the album, and what do
they reveal about its overall message?
This is Raven/John from Neon Dark. Hi!
These two songs embody just about the entire scope of the album. We come at
these topics from two very different angles, and I feel they complement one
another rather viscerally.
Pump and Dump is a feeling. It’s the emotion of feeling used up, being
underappreciated, being devalued, and being expected to thrive within that
dynamic. It’s painful. It creates immense suffering in our culture. People are
walking around trying to accept the fact that they’re living through active and
ongoing trauma while attempting to thrive in a system that’s literally meant to
use and destroy them.
Crown of Leeches directly attacks the problem. It states boldly that we are
over being the cogs in the machine. We are over the prostitution of our hearts,
our lives, and our families.
Together, they form a cathartic blend of emotional release.
They also embody the scope of our sound. Pump and Dump is a creation I’ve been
working on for well over a year. That pre-chorus had been itching in my head
while I was working retail. Nico and Luna have had Crown of Leeches in their
back pocket for a long time as well. Both songs truly epitomize our
individuality while incorporating elements of each other.
2. The album revolves around themes of greed, exploitation, and systemic
decay. What inspired you to focus so intensely on these subjects, and why do
they feel particularly relevant today?
I’ve known Nico and Luna for some time now. They are often shocked by my
stories of what it’s like over here in the US. They’ve seen me go through
health issues and have no real recourse, and they’ve watched from afar as I
struggled to maintain housing.
We are all an empathetic bunch, and we genuinely wanted to create an album full
of anthems that allow the listener to feel seen. To feel the beat. To move. To
scream. Maybe even cry.
We want to say to that average person who’s just getting by, trying to survive,
“I see you, and you fucking matter.”
3. “Crown of Leeches” delivers an unapologetic “eat the rich” perspective.
How did you approach translating that anger and frustration into both the
lyrics and the music?
Honestly, we did not have to search very hard for the anger. It was already
there, waiting for a match.
Luna: When we wrote “Crown of Leeches,” we wanted the lyrics to feel like a
physical blow. The song is about looking up at those glass towers and realizing
they are built on exhaustion, debt, and people being drained just to keep
someone else’s empire alive. The “eat the rich” perspective is not just a
slogan to us. It comes from the frustration of living in a system where
ordinary people are told to struggle harder while those at the top celebrate
record profits.
Musically, we wanted that same pressure and rage to come through. The riffs are
heavy and relentless because the subject matter is heavy and relentless, but we
still wanted the chorus to feel memorable and direct, something people could
shout back. The whole track needed to feel like a riot breaking out in a
high-rise lobby.
It is a refusal to keep being fuel for the machine.
4. “Pump and Dump” explores financial manipulation and manufactured value
through a darker industrial lens. What drew you to these themes, and how do
they connect with the broader narrative of the album?
I felt disposable and used up by my work environment. I felt worthless. I
needed to let it out.
I felt the metaphor was something we could all relate to.
As far as incorporating it, I enjoy the way my writing style is so different
from Nico and Luna’s. I love the different angles and perspectives we all bring
to the table.
5. Blood & Bones and Neon Dark each have distinct sonic identities. How did you ensure that both projects retained their individuality while creating a cohesive collaborative record?
John: We honestly decided not to focus on that as much as making songs we genuinely loved. As we finished the album, it seemed that my voice became the thread throughout. That voice of humanity running through all of the songs.
I absolutely love the different sonic textures we bring to the table. I don’t understand metal like Nico does. I was that kid listening to Veruca Salt, Green Day, and Smashing Pumpkins while my friends were trying to show me Pantera.
I enjoy seeing pop sensibilities overlap with metal. I think it’s a blast.
Nico: From my side, I think the key was not trying to force both projects into one neutral middle ground. We deliberately let the different genres and instincts play off each other. Neon Dark brings this more industrial, electronic, alternative energy, while Blood & Bones comes from a much heavier modern metalcore and melodic death metal background. Instead of smoothing that contrast out, we leaned into it.
The glue was always the themes. Greed, control, collapse, exhaustion, anger at systems that keep draining people. Those ideas give the album a shared emotional language, even when the songs move through different sonic spaces. So the record can shift between heavier Blood & Bones moments and more Neon Dark textures without feeling random, because everything is still orbiting the same world.
For me, that tension is what makes the collaboration interesting. It does not sound like one project swallowing the other. It sounds like two different perspectives staring at the same problem.
6. The album blends real instrumentation, human songwriting, AI-generated elements, and both human and AI vocals. How do you see these different creative tools complementing one another rather than competing?
Personally, I’ve been making electronic and heavy music for nearly 30 years. I’ve used synthesizers and drum machines that entire time.
The way Nico and I use generative AI is as a labor-intensive tool. It can be shocking how many renders we go through to create the visions we want so the human elements can blend naturally with them.
With Neon Dark, I’ll take the beats and ideas I create, rip myself off, rearrange them, transform them, and mess them up over and over again until they become the sounds I want and have a life of their own. For me, it’s a tool, and it’s a great one for expressing the dysphoria and confusion I experience in day-to-day life.
7. Nico, Blood & Bones has built a reputation for politically charged modern metalcore. How has the project evolved creatively since its inception, and what new territory does Elysium on Empty explore?
Blood & Bones started as something very personal and experimental. In the beginning, it was about seeing how far I could take this combination of real musicianship, AI tools, and the fictional persona of Luna as a frontwoman. But over time it became much more focused. The project developed its own identity: modern metalcore with real and AI-generated elements, and lyrics that deal with things I actually care about.
Creatively, I think the biggest evolution has been confidence. We are not trying to hide the AI aspect or pretend this is a traditional band. At the same time, we are also not using AI as a gimmick. The songs still have to work emotionally, musically, and lyrically. That has always been the core for me.
Elysium on Empty explores a different kind of collaboration. Working with John brought in a new voice, both literally and creatively.
For me, this album is new territory because it is not just Blood & Bones expanding its sound. It is two projects colliding and creating something interesting.
8. John, Neon Dark often deals with themes of digital identity, emotional unease, and technological influence. How did those concepts shape your contributions to this collaboration?
Our music deals with identity and unease in general. We chose the name because we accept the fact that our world is really fucking dark. Then you have the concept of neon, a light you can forge.
When approaching this album, I kept asking myself, “What do I need to express, and what can I do to preserve my own heart and the purity of my own soul?” That’s what I wrote about.
I’m actually really excited for people to hear the last couple of songs on the album because they’re not about despair. They’re about reclaiming yourself. In the midst of corruption and exploitation, can you speak your own name like you’re the one giving yourself salvation?
I wanted the listener to be left with liberation and empowerment.
9. The album title, Elysium on Empty, is both striking and unsettling. What does the title represent, and how does it encapsulate the record’s core themes?
I think it’s the concept that so many of us are running on empty while trying to find comfort and hope. It’s the reality that so many of us are running out of ways to cope with a world that constantly threatens our nervous systems, our livelihoods, our relationships, and our future.
10. Many of the songs seem to challenge systems of power rather than individuals. Was it important for you to focus on structural issues rather than personal blame?
I would actually say that only a handful of the songs focus on systems. The remainder focus on relationships, interpersonal struggles, and the final two are about the personal responsibility to take hold of our own lives and decide what we will do with our hands and whether or not we will be part of the solution.
11. Heavy music and industrial music have long histories of social and political commentary. Do you see Elysium on Empty as part of that tradition, or are you aiming to push the conversation in a different direction?
We’re aiming for cathartic release and reflection. We’re less interested in telling people what to think than giving them space to feel what they’ve been carrying. For me, that’s always been one of industrial music’s greatest strengths. It confronts reality while creating catharsis.
12. As listeners step into the world of Elysium on Empty, what emotions, reflections, or conversations do you hope they take away from the experience?
I want them to know that the exploitation is real. The loneliness is real. The corruption is real.
But they are real too. Their pain matters. Their joy matters. And the choices they make every single day to honor themselves above greed and exploitation matter.
I want them to speak their own name like it’s something holy, regardless of how much they’ve been devalued by the system.
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