The Other – “Haunted”
7th June 2020I want to start off this review by briefly talking about zombies. Whether itās the (Pardon the pun) dawn of zombie horror, with George A. Romeroā¦whether itās more modernised, serious zombie drama such as āThe Walking Deadāā¦or even absurd zombie comedy such as āShaun Of The Deadā; despite differences in origin, the lore is usually the same; itās a virus or infection.
Now, I donāt know about you, but if you ask me, the Coronavirus seems to have spread more than a potentially fatal respiratory disease across Europe in the past monthsā¦it seems to be bringing back the fucking dead too! In February, Budapest alt. metal horror-rockers THE HELLFREAKS once again came back from the 9 circles to unleash their new album āGod On The Runāā¦in April, Italian horror-punk outfit SUPERHORROR brought back the B-Movie sleaze with their gory guitar work, and now in June, Kƶln too are reporting murmurings of an undead uprising; itās like a zombie rock renaissance!
Yes, THE OTHER are a German horror-rock outfit formed in Kƶln, consisting of members Rod Usher, Doc Caligari, Ben Crowe, Pat Laveau and Aaron Torn, and they too return from the grave to spread their latest album āHauntedā via Drakkar Entertainment. Far from new corpses on the block however, theyāve an impressive back catalogue and have played shows with everyone from ALICE COOPER to WEDNESDAY 13 on the mainland, but how fresh can these undead rockers remain? In the words of Mike Bracken, letās get to the gore and find outā¦
The album breaks soil with āMark Of The Devilā and initially this seemsā¦wrong? It combines a sense of traditional metal riff work with more of a garage glam aesthetic; thereās a sense of underground 80ās flamboyance to a degree, but itās lacking in everything I was expecting quite frankly in tone and presentationā¦this is a dubious start. āWeāre All Deadā follows up and things begin to pick up a little bit. Itās got more of that frenetic punk rock delivery carrying the track an itās here you pick up on that nuanced style akin to THE MISFITS or NEKROMANTIX for example, staples of the genre, though a more polished incarnation.
Next then we have the first of our album highlights in the form of āTurn It Louderā. Itās got some wonderfully simple yet sleek, catchy guitar sequences, a lively, almost pop-punk anthemic chorus with gang vocals and a jolly little bounce to it overall. āVampire Girlā retains the quality of hooks but returns to a grittier punk rock formula, with more prominent riff work and more of a darker natured delivery, down to the almost Jyrki 69 bursts of baritone vocal.
Thereās more of a welcome gothic touch here and it works wonderfully. āFading Awayā then somehow manages to bridge all of the aforementioned qualities into one melodic piece of alternative rock with smooth guitars, a satisfying solo and a generally light, easy listening vibe; you canāt help but get caught up in the simple pleasantry of this one.
The rest of the album more or less maintains this fine balance of modern, clear production values with the older, garage rock aesthetic, managing to sound equally fresh and nostalgic at the same time. āTo Hell And Backā is a straight up hair metal ballad for example, while āWas Uns Zerstoertā hits harder as an up-tempo German language punk fuelled assault with impassioned, almost protesting vocals. One thing I will say however is that this record, throughout, was nothing that I expected bar a few brief shadows here and there.
While Iām not knocking the tracks, the sound quality or the delivery, I WAS hoping for more of a darker, deeper and sinister listening experience. Musically fine and an enjoyable album overall, but I get the impression that given the chance, these zombies wouldnāt radio in to send more paramedics; theyād feel guilty putting strain on the NHS.
Score: 7/10
Track List:
- “Mark Of The Devil”
- “We’re All Dead”
- “Turn It Louder”
- “Dead To You Dead To Me”
- “Was Uns Zerstoert”
- “On My Skin”
- “01408 217”
- “Vampire Girl”
- “Absolution”
- “Fading Away”
- “Creepy Crawling”
- “To Hell And Back”
- “The Silence After The First Snow”
Record Label:
Drakkar EntertainmentRelease Date:
June 12thFor all things from The Other, click HERE and to purchase the album, click HERE