The Other – Fear Itself

The Other

Fear Itself

by Calen Nesten at 13 July 2015, 6:59 AM

Oh Horror-Rock, I can never seem to escape you. You came into my life as THE MISFITS, then some ALICE COOPER and it was good. Then, I delved further into the genre and found thousands upon thousands of MISFITS clones to the point where their sounds all blend into one, they might as well be the same band, we'll call them “Blood-Monster 13” (feel free to take that band name). So now, when I see that a band is made up of people sporting fake blood and copious amounts of makeup, I tend to proceed with caution. Much like modern Horror movies I'm not entirely sure I can trust Horror Punk for at least another ten years. But hey, what is this? Horror-Rock, you sly old devil of a genre, you brought me a present! A juicy Horror album called “Fear Itself” from German group THE OTHER. THE OTHER has been leading Germany's Horror-Punk scene since 2002, “Fear Itself” is the sixth full-length album from the group since 2012's “The Devils You Know”. After their 2012 release and a quick tour, THE OTHER lost half of their original members leaving only Rod Usher on vocals and Dr. Caligari on drums, in spite of the setback, the band has come back stronger than ever. “Fear Itself” is, itself, a pretty standard Horror album, melodic guitars and clear, eerie vocals take center-stage among a Punk influenced rhythm section and  imagery of ghouls, vampires and blood. THE OTHER's um, other…albums have had a metal tint to them, but it seems like “Fear Itself” has turned up the metal significantly (although, not quite to 11, maybe 7). It's most obvious in the drums from the track “German Angst” which have more of a Hardcore feel to them and “In The Dark” which has some Thrash and classic metal elements in the guitars and vocals. As I mentioned before, many Horror-Punk bands seem like they are trying to be THE MISFITS, I don't see THE OTHER doing this on purpose, but the vocalist sounds almost exactly like Michael Graves. I give THE OTHER credit though for making their instrumentation unique, I know Rod Usher can't completely help how he sounds so I'll give them a pass on this one. If you are a fan of Horror-Rock I suggest picking up “Fear Itself”. It may not blow you away but it doesn't skimp on the fun, and that is exactly what the genre was made for, nonsensical Halloween fun anytime of the year!