https://trialofthegoldenwitch.bandcamp.com/album/gay-and-dead

Trial of the Golden Witch is truly a project that i admire. it blurs, obscures, and even completely diminishes the line between comedy and tragedy. Digibro willingly accepts his role as a clown and portrays himself as a fat bearded hobo who no one should look up to. yet, there is something all so bittersweet about his expression, and something really genuine about his words – his lyricism is tight and self aware, completely ridiculous and ironic, yet most of all sincere, something from the heart

“Gay and Dead” is the man’s most fully realized narrative work yet. an absolute “cringecore” masterpiece, Digibro embodies the manic lifestyle any content creator can find themselves in with “Gay and Dead.” the storytelling is a perfect mix of sick bars over experimental trap bangers, so catchy yet so fucking weird and abrasive (“boogiepop,” as he might personally describe it)

and the narrative arc behind this album only emphasizes this point further. im not sure if i have enough words to talk about each song in the entire album, so ill just take the last three tracks – “Body Rolls” -> “Day Dreamer (Sad Gay Boy)” -> “Who the Fuck is Conrad”. the first of the climax is a drunken manic outburst; Digi is completely incomprehensible here, and the song just goes on and on, chorus after chorus. it sticks in your mind like glue, it keeps haunting you over and over until you fucking pass out

then, theres a certain calm. in “Sad Gay Boy,” Digi becomes the most introspective he’s ever been and possibly ever will be (though i do think “i wanna wake up with you for the rest of my life” from his future “GHOSTS OF MIDWINTER BALLERS” project is up there as well). describing a toxic creative mindset, all the sleep deprivation and the perfectionism. at the end Digi reaffirms this lifestyle however, as something of his own, something he has dedicated himself to. “I am much gayer and deader than god,” he sings. the constant arc words of “gay and dead” also hammers this point in. starting off as seemingly as a joke one liner, it receives its somber moment of completely unironic sorrow here. he lives a completely unrelatable life, and presents it in an unrelatable fashion, yet his emotions are left for us to feel

Who the Fuck is Conrad is the bittersweet closer. the rap verse in this is perfect. Conrad Collins cries – “It’s easier to buy a flight than it is to say goodbye and to go on letting them think of me as the bad guy.” at his most self deprecating, he reminisces about the past, about his hometown of Virginia Beach, and the friends he’s left behind in order to make new comrades on the internet. “I’ve let my own art completely eat me,” he screams as he finally realizes the very monstrous being he’s become – and this is exactly the moment when he fully embraces this new identity as Digibro. in a moment of uncertainty, he lets go and breathes anew

i think the genius of this album really lies *in* the fact that its so cringe, that everything about is so outsider. Digibro is someone hard to take seriously, and everything about the amateur production and gonzo self marketing doesnt help either. but this is quite possibly the only accurate representation he couldve conceived for the modern “content creator” lifestyle. and what makes Gay and Dead a truly emotional undertaking despite its ironic tendencies and somewhat comedic outskirts is the sincerity left to be found in the album. and for me that makes it more “real” than many other albums that are too self serious and too grandiose. Digibro takes himself just seriously enough to spit some nasty bars, but is woke enough to step back for a moment and laugh at his own irrational existence

(17/08/20 addendum: it is worth noting that Digi has, since the penning of this review, transitioned into a new transfeminine identity as “Digi-nee”, or Baroness Grey. it is a difficult choice for me whether to quickly rewrite this review to better reflect her current character – in the end, i’ve decided this addendum will suffice, as the character portrayed in this album – Digibro, Conrad Collins – i feel like is a fundamentally different individual from Digi-nee, Baroness Grey.

it is, in fact, very enlightening though, and re-contextualizes some of her music in a brand new light. to keep this addendum short, many of her work, including Gay and Dead, has to deal with the destruction of an identity and the birth of a new one – best portrayed in Who the Fuck is Conrad. this is why, as a fan of hers for many years, this is only an obvious and expected development, and i felt absolutely no shock when she came out. Digi being a trans women was the only result this worldline had in store for us, and it only makes her art more reflective and honest to her. truly – ICONIC AND BASED.)