Haunted Horses : "the Watcher"

The new album by this Seattle based project comes to life by kicking into a dark tribal hammer of drums and guitars screaming out from the dark depths where this album must have been conceived. The pound of the band awakening here is only two minutes and bleeds right into the next song "Goetia" which sonically builds from the opener, with the low ghostly moan crooning desperately over the frantic guitar that builds through out, until the chant rises up from this dismal pit into a scream. Not unlike early industrial namely Greed era Swans. It works more on hypnotizing than creating some kinds of dance floor groove.

The somewhat Bauhaus bellow of "The Moon's March" captures the creepy Halloween feel of what most think of goth, but while keeping up the droning pound the album previously established but its to a post- apocalyptic funeral here. It even brings to mind the tribal brand of industrial craziness bands like Crash Worship once invoked, especially on the percussion heavy "Children of Light", though the vocals here remind me a little of Lard on the verses.

The intro to "the Void " is thick synth drone, followed by the low spectral vocals and percussion. I am sure some will try to write off some of the more minimalist electronic throbs as being kruat rock, or even cold wave, but it is more abrasive than either sub genre. The drumming is impressive and the fact it is so organic in it's execution is crucial to the bands sound.


The noise chaos of "Lumenance" is the first hint of the death rock tag that I feel is justifiable, though there is more Swans like pound to it than anything Christian Death did during the Rozz years at least. It is hammered into place in a manner I feel can't be done justice in the studio, but still the execution is convincing enough, am sure this is once of those bands you walk away think their albums don't do them justice.

The death rock passion of lovers comes across in "The Animist in the Gallery of Muses" , the vocals take on more emotive inflection and the dissonant bat cave guitar, jangles creepily throughout the tomb, they must have recorded this in. The goth moments are not for your pretentious Thursday night dress ups, as you aren't going to be swatting bats and throwing dead roses to this.

"White Eyes" despite its angular noise and chants in the back ground, takes on some of the more rocking dynamics, in the chorus riff , which pounds the nails in the coffin with a hook to the beating it comes with.I'll give this album a 9.5 though it might grow into a 10, as every time it pops up on shuffle mode, I remember how much I like it but it's so dense and angular, and all too often noisy that it doesn't nag at you to obsessively listen to it like most albums I rate of as a ten which I can just leave on.