Dog Blood

Dog Blood is the duo project of Skrillex and Boys Noize, two titans of electronic music who joined forces in 2012 to explore a harder, more techno-driven sound. Skrillex, already a Grammy-winning dubstep icon, and Boys Noize, a veteran of the German electro house scene, found common ground in their love for aggressive, industrial-tinged club music. The project was announced with little fanfare, and their debut single "Next Order" / "Middle Finger" arrived on August 12, 2012 via OWSLA and Boysnoize Records. "Next Order" shot to #1 on Beatport's Techno chart, signaling that this wasn't just a side project but a serious creative outlet.

Over the next few years, Dog Blood released a handful of tracks and remixes, including the 2013 EP that featured "Shred or Die", "Middle Finger Pt. 2", and "Chella Ride" the latter also hitting #1 on Beatport's Breaks chart. Their remix of A$AP Rocky's "Wild for the Night" became a festival staple, and they delivered a searing edit of Josh Wink's "Higher State of Consciousness". The duo's live sets became must-see events, marked by confrontational energy and relentless BPMs. They played Ultra Music Festival, Electric Daisy Carnival, Glastonbury, and Hard Summer in 2013, but after a 2015 appearance at Movement Festival, Dog Blood went quiet.

The hiatus lasted four years with no explanation. Then in 2019, Dog Blood roared back. They played BUKU in New Orleans, a Brownies & Lemonade warehouse party in Miami, and a career-defining set at Ultra Music Festival's UMF Worldwide Stage, where they debuted new unreleased material. That September, they closed the main stage at Electric Zoo. As of 2025, the duo is still active but has not released new music since their return. Fans hold out hope for more, but Dog Blood remains a rare, explosive treat when it appears.[edit]

Dog Blood wasn't born from a label mandate or a reality show. Skrillex and Boys Noize had known each other for years, crossing paths at festivals and in studios. Both were at the peak of their solo powers when they decided to collaborate on something that didn't fit either of their main projects. The idea was simple: make music that was darker, harder, and more uncompromising than what either was known for. There were no auditions, no training period. They just got in the studio and started producing. The name "Dog Blood" came from a desire to be provocative and aggressive, matching the sound they were building. Their first session produced "Next Order" and "Middle Finger", and they knew they had something special. They released the tracks almost immediately, bypassing traditional promotion. The Beatport #1 came as a surprise but confirmed they were onto something.[edit]

Dog Blood's sound is a brutal fusion of techno, electro house, and industrial music, stripped down to its most essential elements. Where Skrillex's solo work often layers melodic dubstep wobbles and pop hooks, Dog Blood favors pounding four-on-the-floor kicks, distorted basslines, and glitchy, stuttering synths. Boys Noize brings a German techno precision and a love for raw, mechanical grooves. The result is music that feels both chaotic and controlled. Tracks like "Next Order" are built around a single, relentless kick drum pattern, with vocal samples chopped and twisted into percussive elements. "Chella Ride" leans into breakbeat territory but keeps the aggression high. Their remixes, like the "Wild for the Night" edit, take hip-hop vocals and drop them into a wall of industrial noise. Live, Dog Blood's sets are known for their confrontational energy, with the duo often mixing tracks at breakneck speed, blending their own material with obscure techno cuts and unexpected edits.[edit]

Dog Blood's main contribution to electronic music was bridging the gap between mainstream EDM and underground techno. At a time when Skrillex was one of the biggest names in the world, his involvement in a project this raw and uncompromising introduced millions of fans to a harder, more industrial sound. The duo's festival sets, especially their 2013 Ultra debut, showed that techno could command a main stage audience. They also influenced a wave of producers who started blending dubstep bass with techno kicks, a style that would later be dubbed "hybrid techno" or "industrial techno." While Dog Blood never achieved the commercial heights of either member's solo work, their impact on the sound of festival main stages in the mid-2010s is undeniable. They proved that aggression and melody could coexist, and that a side project could be just as artistically valid as a main act.[edit]

Dog Blood doesn't have a formal fandom name, lightstick, or official fan color. In the electronic music scene, fans don't organize around side projects the way K-pop or pop fandoms do. Instead, Dog Blood's audience is a subset of Skrillex and Boys Noize fans who crave the harder edge. They show up at festivals with custom totems and LED gloves, and they trade unreleased recordings and track IDs on forums. The duo's social media presence is minimal, so fans rely on Reddit and Discord to share news. The 2019 return sparked a wave of excitement, with fans creating artwork and remixes of their own. There's no organized fan projects, but the community is passionate and knowledgeable, often debating which unreleased ID is the best.[edit]

The name Dog Blood was chosen specifically to be aggressive and memorable, with no deeper meaning. Despite persistent rumors, the duo has never released a full-length album. Their entire official discography consists of just two singles, one EP, and two remixes. At Ultra 2019, they debuted a track fans call "Dog Blood ID 2019", which remains unreleased. The duo also released exclusive remixes through Skrillex's subscription service The Nest in 2013. The music video for "Chella Ride" won Best Animation at the Berlin Music Video Awards in 2014. The 2015-2018 hiatus was never officially explained; both artists simply returned to solo work.[edit]