From TikTok Covers to Metal Powerhouse: Kasey Karlsen of Deadlands Proves She’s the Real Deal
Inside the viral rise, unfiltered ambition, and fearless creativity behind Deadlands’ new concept EP "Seven"
If you’ve spent any time in the world of modern metal, or even just let TikTok’s algorithm do its thing, there’s a good chance you’ve come across Kasey Karlsen. Whether through her fierce, viral one-take vocal covers, her powerhouse performances fronting the metal band Deadlands, or even sharing the stage with Nita Strauss or The Word Alive, Karlsen’s presence is unmistakable. And with the release of Deadlands’ blistering new concept EP Seven, she’s making one thing very clear: she’s not just a social media presence. She’s here for the long haul.
When I sat down with Kasey for the latest episode of The Powerless Podcast, it wasn’t just another promo interview. This was a conversation about transformation—about how you build something real in an industry (and on the internet) that often tries to minimize, dismiss, or mislabel artists, especially young women. She laughs early on about how often people try to box her in. “It was never supposed to be this influencer thing,” she tells me. “It just happened. I started with covers, started a band, and it took off. But the music’s real. Deadlands is a real fucking band.”
That chip on her shoulder isn’t bitterness. It’s purpose. And it’s easy to see why. In less than five years, Deadlands went from forming on a Tinder-for-bandmates app to playing massive shows, signing with Spinefarm Records, and working with some of the most respected producers and artists in the scene. It’s the kind of arc that sounds like fiction. But when you hear her talk about it—breaking through by playing every angle, writing from lived experience, and performing with an energy that can’t be faked—it all makes sense.
Deadlands’ new EP, Seven, is a concept record built around the seven deadly sins. But this isn’t just a gimmick. Each track stands alone musically and emotionally, pulling apart different angles of human behavior in a way that’s theatrical, personal, and confrontational. “I didn’t want to do some biblical thing,” Kasey explains. “I wanted to show how these sins—pride, lust, gluttony, greed—play out in real life. How they show up in me, in other people, in our society. That’s what makes it powerful.”
What’s immediately obvious when you listen to Seven is that it’s not a record made by committee. Despite being their first release on a label, the band refused to play it safe. Each of the seven songs features a different flavor, some brutal, some melodic, some experimental, and some stripped down. They even worked with a range of collaborators, from Andrew Wade (Wage War, A Day to Remember) to members of Ice Nine Kills and The Pretty Wild. That variety never feels scattered. Instead, it gives Seven a sense of momentum and progression, like each track is its own dark little movie.
“Villain,” the record’s opening track, explodes with pride and defiance. It’s short, sharp, and immediately engaging. “This is about when your pride makes you the villain,” she says. “Especially in the music scene, and especially as a woman, you end up putting walls up to protect yourself. But then you become the person people say you are.” It’s not just self-aware—it’s self-critical in a way that adds real depth to the fire.
From there, “Die in Paradise” dives headfirst into greed. The song isn’t shy about its targets, calling out materialism, government corruption, and influencer culture with lines like “blinded by diamonds, I’ll die in paradise.” Kasey’s lyrical lens is wide here but never vague. She knows exactly who she’s pointing at. “It’s not about people being successful,” she says. “It’s about the overindulgence—about having more than you need and still wanting more, while people around you starve.”
“More” might be one of the record’s heaviest lyrical punches, using gluttony to explore addiction, eating disorders, and the cycle of self-destruction. “If you take away the shame, could you face what’s underneath?” she sings, challenging listeners to think beyond surface-level interpretation. Like the best concept albums, Seven doesn’t just name sins. It shows you what they do.
With “Limbo,” the band takes on lust, but not in the usual way. Instead of writing another sexy metalcore anthem, Kasey flips the script and tells the story of someone hurt, used, and left behind by someone chasing nothing but physical highs. “Lust is normalized in such a toxic way,” she says. “This is about the destruction it leaves behind. It’s about someone who gave a shit and got wrecked because of it.” The accompanying music video, where she transforms into a vampire and exacts her revenge, makes the metaphor literal and unforgettable.
But it’s “Kundalini,” featuring The Pretty Wild, that might be the biggest curveball on the record. Built around the sin of envy, the track blends haunting clean guitar lines with fierce vocals and a hypnotic rap verse that explores spiritual toxicity, jealousy, and ego death. The song title itself refers to a kind of divine serpent energy, and the lyrical references to snakes, masks, and the draining of life force give it an unsettling weight. “It’s about the girls who say they support you but actually want to be you—or destroy you,” Kasey says. “We wanted to call that energy out.”
“Wither,” a chaotic blast of screams and breakdowns with no clean vocals and no real song structure, was the band’s way of embodying sloth, both musically and conceptually. “This is the ‘get the fuck up off your ass’ song,” she laughs. “It’s for anyone who sits back and waits for life to hand them something. Nothing’s coming. You gotta make it happen.” Her delivery on the track is raw and punishing, possibly the most feral moment on the record, and one that showcases just how wide her vocal range truly is.
Then there’s “House of Cards,” the finale and first single the band released from the project. Originally written as a poker-themed track before the seven sins concept took hold, the song ended up fitting perfectly as the embodiment of wrath. “Sometimes you don’t even know what you’re writing until it’s done,” she admits. “But when we looked at it again, it was like—oh yeah, this is rage.”
Throughout the entire episode, what struck me most about Kasey Karlsen wasn’t just her talent or her ambition. It was her clarity. She knows who she is, what she wants to create, and how to own the space she’s building, whether that’s online or onstage. There’s no hiding behind irony, no deflecting with self-deprecation. She’s proud of the band she’s built, the people she surrounds herself with, and the stories she’s telling, whether they come with screams, synths, or Spotify playlists.
Deadlands might have started with TikTok clips, but Seven proves they’re playing the long game, and they’re winning.
Listen to the full interview on The Powerless Podcast, available now on Spotify and YouTube.
Seven drops June 27 via Spinefarm Records.
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