Formerly a MISFITS cover band who built up such a reputation that singer, ROD USHER, was actually invited onstage to perform lead vocals by the band themselves. They started recording their own material after pleas from fans increased. THE OTHER now seem to be making a few waves in the ‘horrorpunk’ scene with German label Fiend Force putting out this album.
When tracks have names like “The Imp of the Perverse’ and ‘666 Ways to Die’ it’s hard to take this band too seriously but a quick glimpse at their on-stage attire would suggest seriousness is not an intention. The atmosphere created on this album however is certainly dark and rather gloomy (see the sludging riffs in ‘Wolf’ or the subtle keys in ‘Hyde Inside’) so when combined with the old-school horror-film artwork concept a certain aura is definitely achieved.
Most strikingly about THE OTHER is the lead vocals, just like Danzing did for the MISFITS, Rod Usher’s vocals are rather epic, venturing between the operatic and the eerie but always fitting; they’re nothing short of unique. Even though each song has a massive vocal line and the best ‘woahs’ since, well, THE MISFITS, there’s just something missing which stops this scoring higher. Perhaps it would be a little dismissive to say THE MISFITS cannot be beaten at their own game, but with the amount of times I’ve mentioned their name in this review already it could infer how influenced THE OTHER are.
There’s nothing wrong with this album; it certainly succeeds in creating a brooding and dark atmosphere and to an extent the songs are solid and work well. I just can’t help by feel, and if you’ll excuse the pun, that ‘horrorpunk’ is a dying genre which needs a bit of resuscitating. ALK3’s success gave things a bit of a kick but more is needed. THE OTHER fail to provide anything new, but that aside, this is a fairly good album.
-Mike
www.fiendforce.de