I don’t remember when I discovered A Pale Horse Named Death but it was fated to happen. Alice in Chains and Type O Negative have long been two of my most favourite bands, and ones I feel are the most musically talented and creative of my catalog. When I first heard of Peter Steele’s (Founder, principle songwriter, vocalist, bassist of ToN) passing I was heartbroken. Heartbroken because I was aware of Peter’s struggles in life, obstacles that he had finally overcame and beaten were now passed him and I was ready for more quality Type O Negative songwriting. Coming off their great last release the band was still poised to continue delivering awesome albums. I was also saddened because I would never get the chance to experience Type O Negative live and see this amazing band in front of me, and soak in all of their sonic brilliance. I was sure there would never be another band to fill the void left by ToN. Enter APHND and while never being able to replace them, they do make a very nice complimentary band and stand out on their own.
I think I got a message sent to me via APHND on my twitter about their new album and to check them out. I looked into it and found out that Sal Abruscato (Type O Negative, Life of Agony) is the driving force and creator of this band. I was immediately interested and headed over to YouTube to check out the tracks he had uploaded. To my surprise, the band sounded like a potent mixture of Alice in Chains down-tuned slow and chunky guitars mixed with the ambiance and atmosphere of Type O Negative. Sal has moved from behind the kit with his previous bands to front-man position here, playing guitar and handling vocal duties for the band. APHND has three guitarists as Sal doesn’t play while singing. Once the three guitars come together in unison, the result is a sonic barrage of sound, thick and in your face! Former Type O drummer Johnny Kelly also sits behind the kit as the drummer for this band.
The album is solid from top to bottom, fans of slow doomy sounding metal are in for a treat. Multiple layers of sound, melodies and atmospheric sound bring me right back to my ToN & AiC happy place. I look forward to future works by this promising band and think they will develop a very large and devout following over years to come.
