A PALE HORSE NAMED DEATH – And Hell Will Follow Me

Type O Negative might be down under with the late demise of Peter Steele, but more descendants of their spirit keep on coming. With the introduction of the band Seventh Void, featuring Type O Negative’s Kenny Hickey and Johnny Kelly, here comes another gloomy stallion in the likes of A Pale Horse Named Death. This is the presentation of Ex-Type O Negative drummer and the lead man of Life Of Agony, Sal Abruscato. The guy that was a part of Type O Negative’s first three albums (Slow, Deep And Hard, Origin Of The Feces, and Bloody Kisses) has started a sort of a tribute down the path of continuance of the old giant’s music style and feel.

Sal, with his companion from Seventh Void (guitarist Matt Brown), has released the band’s debut, And Hell Will Follow Me. With this album, Sal shows his devotion to the gloomy, drug-overdosed, and groovy style for the New York Doom / Gothic Metal scene.  Sal handled almost every aspect of the recording and wrote some intense material that scoured the dark side of humanity. Whether its drugs, death, or other utterly melancholic themes, this band has launched a well done beginning into what is hopefully a successful future career.

Most of the album’s top notch tracks weren’t just musically inspiring; they also held a strong sense of lyricism. Abruscato used rather simple lyrics in order to intensify the criticism and hard feelings of what might be bothersome issues. The music itself is pretty simple. There are plenty of grooves in the vein of T.O.N. with a high inspiration of ’70s-style Black Sabbath. Occasionally, there were some cool lead guitar sections, whether those are small melodies or Bluesy solos. Even though some will probably want more of those, there was really no need.

Abruscato’s vocals served their role quite well, covering some of the need for lead guitar sections. His nice voice patterns came through pretty much in the vein of his old band mate from T.O.N., Kenny Hickey (if you don’t have knowledge of his voice, listen to T.O.N. tunes where he offers up backing vocals, or listen to his lead vocals on Seventh Void) combined with some of Steele’s softy vocalic touch. In a way, Abruscato asserted himself pretty well on the vocal section, since he was known more as a drummer.

And Hell Will Follow Me will probably give T.O.N. and maybe Groove Metal fans a chance to enjoy something hard and American. From this end, tunes like “When Crows Descend Upon You”, “Serial Killer”, and the pessimist semi-ballad “Die Alone” will treat you well with a diversity of what is hard and groovy and what is more emotional. Of course you will find other cool outcomes in the rest of the release as well, yet those three are at the top of the list.

Thanks to the efforts of Abruscato and Brown, A Pale Horse Named Death is the second derivation that came out of the old Type O Negative body and it is good to know that it is coming out of the chute with muscles flexed. Although for some of you it will be hard to connect to the material because most of it seems non-energetic, yet this is what the style is all about. This release may not hit every nail square on the head, but still it is quite impressive.

Tracklist

1. And Hell Will follow Me
2. As Black As My Heart
3. To Die In Your Arms
4. Heroine Train
5. Devil In The Closet
6. Cracks In The Walls
7. Bad Dream
8. Bath In My Blood (Schizophrenia In Me)
9. Pill Head
10. Meat The Wolf
11. Serial Killer
12. When Crows Descend Upon You
13. Die Alone

Lineup

Sal Abruscato – Drums, Guitar, Lead Vocals
Matt Brown – Guitar, Vocals