There’s an endless amount of subgenres in music, and bands switch between them often, however those that focus primarily in the realm of horror know about horror-punk its often surrounded by Psychobilly and Horror-Metal, the punk aspect is still quite appealing just one listen to The Return of the Living Dead Soundtrack [1985] and they tell the influence in the music. The German band The Other returned with their eighth full-length album entitled ‘Haunted’ filled with monsters, creeps, ghouls, nightmares, and other horrific terrors released on June 12, 2020, by Drakkar Entertainment. Those unaware, this band started long-ago as a Misfits cover band but took that influence and cultivated into their own fun talented creation, by infusing of gothic punk and metal.
The “Mark of the Devil” is a great song to lead off the album, a solid introduction for listeners new to the band, but on a personal note “We Are Dead” to me should be the first song heard, the energy continues from the first track flowing smoothly into the next with Grave Robber inspired ghoulish chorus it just grabs hold of the listeners; making them recall Misfits. Then suddenly at the 2:02 mark of the song there’s a sudden downturn in tempo hint to doom influences, before returning to upbeat punk. Then a really cool and thoroughly hitting a repeat play on “Turn It Louder” pure horror-punk throttles itself solidly to a slow fade out to completion following behind is rich gothic track “Dead To You – Dead To Me,” with simplistic chorus cranks a bit heavier at the halfway point, however vocalist Rod Usher leads the charge with a variation that echoes back to incredible Sister of Mercy. First, I don’t know German, but the fifth track is “Was Uns Zerstoert” translates as “Which Destroys Us,” but a kick-ass beat, great riffs, and a positive punk snarl. The next two songs “On My Skin” and “1408 & 217” are almost duplicates of each other, the punk dials back a bit and then stack in more metal riffs, increasing the speed with goth inspired lyrics pouring through. The second track is clear indication of what they are references to, all fans hail Stephen King, these songs are very fast, punk spewing horror filled lyrics. The band really generate an incredible sound, with horror themed lyrics just to note on to other tracks, mixing the elements of punk, goth which is clearly on “Fading Away,” and metal intensity of “Creepy Crawling” that lasts on the song until 1:31 then switches over to punkish stylist with catchy chorus.
Track Listing:
Mark of The Devil
We’re All Dead
Turn It Louder
Dead To You – Dead To Me
Was uns zerstoert
On My Skin
1408 217
Vampire Girl
Absolution
Fading Away
Creepy Crawling
To Hell and Back
The Silence After the First Snow
Band Members:
Rod Usher – Vocals
Ben Crowe – Guitars
Pat Leveau – Guitars
Aaron Torn – Bass
Dr. Caligari – Drums
This album shows the band’s creativity and how their music can and will appeal to multiple cross-genre fan bases namely the metal and punk, and yet it might assist in capturing those liking gothic elements. As the lyrics aid in that endeavor giving way to more than zombies and the mere undead creatures, endorsing mysterious love and agonies of unkept graves, warm coffins.
Baron’s Rating: 4.5/5.0
Band Links:
https://www.facebook.com/theotherhorrorpunk/
https://www.instagram.com/theother_horrorpunk/