Title: New Blood
Artist: The Other
Genre: Horror Punk / Gothic Rock
Release Date: 21st May 2010
Label: Steamhammer (SPV)
Album Review
German horror punk band THE OTHER was founded in 2002 but its members played before in a MISFITS cover band called GHOULS. The musicians draw inspiration out of old horror movies and their sound mostly presents a mixture of punk, rockabilly, death-rock and metal. THE OTHER released the debut album entitled ‘They’re Alive’ in 2004 and after that it had a chance to support such bands as THE 69 EYES and MISFITS. Besides the formation also shared the stage with THE DAMNED and THE CULT and managed to create the comic - book ‘Tales of the Other’. This year the musicians are going to please their fans with the fourth studio album called ‘New Blood’.
The CD starts with the title track that is somewhat intro to the further material but for me it was just a kind of defeated expectancy: beautiful, atmospheric melody which surprisingly reminded me of classic Disney cartoons could be hardly associated with horror movies. But the following song abruptly ruins all the magic and brings a listener back to the style the band actually plays. Heavy, speedy riffs, clear-cut rhythm, rich, powerful vocals and dark lyrics fall upon you, take over the control of you mind and this remains till the end of the album. The title of the next composition speaks for itself: ‘Transylvania’ arouses mysterious and scary images especially if you listen attentively to the words sung by a profound voice.
The CD proceeds and one rapid track comes after another but all of them are flying by and soon the whole material merges into a monolithic sonic canvas. Yet ‘Hier kommt die Dunkelheit’ stands out against that background because of its interesting arrangement and the lyrics in German so this language is just great to convey the atmosphere of the song. Some more compositions I’d like to mark out are ‘The Lovesick Mind’ and ‘In League with the Devil’. The former attracts one’s attention with its smoothness, measured rhythm and diverse music while the latter strikes with the powerful, solid guitars that don’t fit in quite well with the previous musical pieces and produce a strong impression. In general the album seems to be rather good and obviously very qualitative yet it still lacks some freshness.
Tracklist
01. New Blood – 1:03
02. Back to the Cemetery – 3:50
03. Transylvania – 3:09
04. Ghost Ride to Hell – 3:16
05. Hier kommt die Dunkelheit – 3:36
06. The Burial – 2:20
07. Castle Rock – 2:41
08. The Lovesick Mind – 5:10
09. Talk to the Dead – 4:05
10. Blood Runs Cold – 3:19
11. In League with the Devil – 4:13
12. Demons Walk the Earth – 2:27
13. Howling at the Moon – 3:37
14. We All Bleed Red – 4:23
Line-up
Rod Usher – Vocals
Sarge von Rock – Guitars, Backing Vocals
Dr. Caligari – Drums
Migore Drake – Bass
Website
http://www.myspace.com/theother
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 9
Extras: -
Total: 8.5 / 10
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