A Pale Horse Named Death – “Die Alone”
. . .
Due to daily inundation, I almost never listen to new metal recreationally. But over the past few weeks, I have fervently sought out A Pale Horse Named Death. This band is unsigned – probably not for long – and landed in my inbox without a publicist. So I approached it with fresh ears. Now I’m a rabid fan.
A Pale Horse Named Death sound like Type O Negative and Alice in Chains put together. This isn’t surprising, given that vocalist/guitarist/mastermind Sal Abruscato was the drummer for Type O Negative. Sometimes the worship in either direction, TON or AIC, is so slavish as to raise eyebrows. But, man, the songs! I thirst for metal bands who can write songs. For most of the year, I am parched. Then come APHND, delivering songs by the ton. They are heavy, and they stick.
First, a note about the band’s brilliant marketing campaign. It set up a website with a media player that streams its entire debut album, And Hell Will Follow Me. (Each song is streamable separately on YouTube.) Then it undertook a social media push that had fans besieging blogs like this one with requests to cover it. I wouldn’t want every band to do this; my inbox is overflowing as is. Then again, few bands have (a) the skills to engineer such a campaign, and (b) the fans to carry it out. Sure, bribes help. (In this case, the band gave away a single CD.) But fans won’t proselytize for you unless they love your music. If the tunes are good, fans will talk about them. Hence, this post.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard “Die Alone”. (You can do so above.) I’ve streamed it over and over again for literally hours. It stucks in my head and comes to me everywhere – in the shower, at bedtime, while walking around. Sure, it’s depressing. Each morose lyric is clearly understandable. But its sound is addictive – Abruscato’s heavy-lidded voice; the huge, doomy chords; the sax that comes out of nowhere. This is a hit waiting to happen.
I’m not sure when And Hell Will Follow Me officially comes out. But you can order it directly (and autgraphed) from the band here. Judging by its Facebook page, fans are ordering and receiving the CD in droves. All this, with no label or publicist. The tunes are that good. A Pale Horse Named Death – you will hear much more about them.
. . .
. . .
I dunno… That song, “Die Alone”, sounds too much like a carbon copy of Type O’ Negative, without the voice.
Fucking awesome.
My initially reaction is exactly what Mike said. If you told me Type O Negative were continuing with a new singer and you played me this, I would believe you.
Was digging it… and then the vocals kicked in.
Reminds me a bit of Woods of Ypres… who remind me of Type O Negative, so good times.
Thats cool you found a new band to get psyched about. It’s rare these days, I know the feeling.I think I’ll have to keep searhing though, this sounds like Godsmack to me though. Voodoo, Voodoooo…………..
the promo photos on their myspace page are the lamest thing i have seen in a while. sue me for saying this: not only are they lame, but they are overtly sexualized images of violence against women. it looks like one of those designer clothing ads with the “dead looking” women in provocative poses. Gross
the music is ok. “die alone” is Steele-y enough to trigger a momentary emotional response :memories of 11th grade, 1996, fall, cold, October Rust, walkman on the school-bus, black lights, incense, my introduction to Lycia and the Cocteau Twins etc., etc. The decent production renders the rest of it passable I guess. I think you will tire of it soon.
Way, way to similar to Typo. I’d rather listen to the real thing than this.
Haha…that was funny. Type O of course………..
Sal was also a monster behind the kit for Life Of Agony.
funny about seeking out ’songs’ in metal.. I finally heard the Ghost album, and I was struck by the quality of the songs. the stupid satanic joke lyrics, not so much, but at times I was able to forget I was listening to a joke band, and the songs themselves were really great. i still wish that vocals didn’t sound like They Might Be Giants, but musically speaking, those songs are great.
this song, on the other hand, is fine musically, but it didn’t really do anything for me. seems like pretty standard ’90s hard rock with decent gothy leads and some pretty shitty singing. what’s most interesting to me is how this could leap out of the speakers for some folks when its trodding such well-worn ground. different strokes, apparently.
Listened to the album, and I really dug it, short of “Serial Killer”. That song gave me the same reaction as “Good Friends and a Bottle of Pills”: why would anybody write such crap? It’s not even the lyrical content itself, so much as how it’s phrased. Awful, awful, awful.
thats not too bad acctually, will have to get a hold of the album, or torrent for now(link plz)
i remember when i was first introduced to junius from this site (same time last year) and i still listen to that, when im lifting or running.
[slightly] of topic: What would be the best Type O Negative album to get into?
sounds extremely generic. like.
@Enkeling – Depends on what you’re after. If you like what you’re hearing from APHND, I’d get Bloody Kisses (also they’re most popular). I personally like the twists and turns of Slow, Deep, and Hard.
As for APHND, I like it for what it is. This is the type of stuff I’d rather hear on the radio than Godsmack or Nickelback.
I never got into Bloody Kisses. I was more of an October Rust guy. But the best thing they ever did was the cover of Summer Breeze on Bloody Kisses. I’m not usually a fan of incommensurate covers but that one unlocked a whole new dimension to that song. It’s breathtaking!
i want to like this but the lyrics sound like a 14 yr old wrote them. i could get over the singing (that i’m not fond of) if the lyrics weren’t so uninspired. great music, though. can’t fuck w/ sal’s song-writing.
Too dull. Boring. Pop. Smells like teen spirit? Eh, I’d rather listen to the originators and pioneers of this sound.
Sounds like Sully Erna fronting Type O.
Within that 90s hard rock context, it’s not awful – but those songs sound very dated to me now.
Dispirit is my new favorite metal band – much better than this
boring
Yawn-inducing
Type O without the humor?
@Enkeling – It depends: if you like angry,heavy music, get Slow Deep and Hard: it’s very close to Carnivore’s Retaliation. If you like trippy sound, October Rust is for you. But if your thing is Sabbath-heavy, almost doom music with great melodies, get World Coming Down. Bloody Kisses has some good songs but it’s a little boring on the long run.
One thing worth noting: though they are technically unsigned and (presumably) without a publicist, I’m sure Sal Abruscato carries years of experience and industry friendships into an endeavor such as this which to some extent has an equivalent value to record label support in the music world circa 2010. I don’t intend to be disparaging, just to say that a younger band would be forgiven for not presenting themselves this deftly from the get-go.
Sorry, I think this is really, really bad.
Just ordered the album. I only listened to this one song, but I like their sound. It’s very melodic, but droning and heavy. Yes, there are definitely influences from mainstream 90’s rock, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing; who doesn’t like Alice In Chains?
I’ve never listened to Type O Negative before, so what albums of their’s should I check out? I really like this song, and I mostly listen to doom and stoner metal.
@Max – “Bloody Kisses” is their masterpiece, IMO, followed closely by “The Origin Of The Feces”, a re-recording of their debut.
@Max: No, Bloody Kisses is NOT their masterpiece. It’s boring. If you like doom and stoner rock get World Coming Down and Dead Again, their doomier albums.
It’s good, but not my cup of tea. I think they need to get signed because I’d like to hear this on the radio instead of the same godsmack songs from the late 90’s that they run into the ground. This would be a welcome change.
This is like AiC. Except with all of the rage taken out. And the lyrics written by someone who only knows the pain of addiction because he listened to AiC, not because he’s experienced it. Awful.
Some tracks really striking, with a strong side TYPE O NEGATIVE, what is far from displeasing me. The melancholic atmosphere is just haughtiness, I have it shivers.
It is a pity the rest of the album is not of the same level