Lay My Soul to Waste

Rarely do I ever revisit albums. Always on a kind of stumbling prowl for new sounds, I find it hard sometimes to take time out of my hectic life to revisit certain albums. Maybe I'll check out albums I might've missed by bands I'm already familiar with, or maybe spin a song or two for nostalgia sake. But going back to entire albums? An occurrence so sporadic, I'm compelled to call it 'paranormal.' Of course, we in the writing business know not to bring up things unless we have a reason.

I recently went on a binge of Type O Negative albums. The mighty TON are, along with Godflesh, my favorite band, and it felt great to revisit stuff like Slow, Deep and Hard, Bloody Kisses, and my personal favorite World Coming Down. To relive my school days, thinking myself so cool for knowing lyrics by heart, and feeling familiar chills from one of my all-time favorite songs, "Christian Woman," it was all a blast and a half. Such a trip was, of course, not entirely without sadness: the specter of Peter Steele's death hung over for the binge's entirety. Frankly, I'm still bummed that I became such a hardcore fan, only to move into a world without Steele, new TON music, and never being able to see them -and him- live in concert. It sucks, but with such a rock-solid back catalog to go through, as well as those of Carnivore and Fallout, I was able to find joy in just knowing this music got to exist before the tragic end.

During this rose-tinted deep dive, I suddenly remembered an album from my high school days. Not a TON album, but a random purchase made at a Walmart while hanging around with my girlfriend at the time, as well as some of our mutual friends. The music selection at Walmart has obviously gone to shit in recent years, now relegated to stocking classic rock best-of compilations and mom-friendly pop country albums. But I can remember when I first discovered Cannibal Corpse among those shelves, while also finding the more punk-tinged stuff that I jammed in my youth. Metal and hardcore, at one time, could be found in Walmarts. (God DAMN, I feel old now...) This album I'd found at random, bought purely for it's association with TON which I only really knew about because I read about it in a metal mag. Don't even remember which one.

This album, A Pale Horse Named Death's sophomore effort, Lay My Soul to Waste, defined a good chunk of high school for me. This and the aforementioned World Coming Down. But the latter will have its day in court. For now, let's get fuckin' edgy.

Fronted by former TON skins-beater Sal Abruscato, APHND seemed to have been formed directly out of the ashes of Type O, in the same year in fact. Whether or not this is in bad taste will be up to you, but I can't imagine the formation being in bad faith. To march on after Steel's passing, and so soon after it, could've been therapeutic for his former bandmates/friends. However, this has played no part in my final scoring for this album.

APHND play a kind of hard rock/goth metal hybrid style. Eschewing any intricacies, their sound is significantly stripped back, focusing on heavy, simple riffing above all else. The doom 'n' gloom atmosphere remains, but its nothing in the grand gothic tradition of TON. Abruscato does decent work as vocalist, bringing a kind of broken-working-class-man sadness to the performance, despite coming off as a bit monotone as the album progresses. Everything here sounds thick and loud, oozing with more modern sensibilities that don't feel out of place on, of all things, the shelves at a Walmart. The production is fine, nothing spectacular; every instrument can be singled out, although the three-guitar attack does add a nice extra layer of pure doom. The drums aren't as cavernous or metallic, but they mesh nicely with this more streamlined modern metal approach. It feels... fine.

Save for the songwriting. Buckle in, buckaroos.

The album's first proper song, after the intro track, is the big would-be hit-radio single 'Shallow Grave.' Even after all these years, this track still just kicks angst-y ass like hot razors through butter. Its main riff, introduced by a bass guitar that's heavier than any other instrument on display here, is the kind of easy-to-hum-but-hard-to-forget jam that does the job in spades. Honestly, save for maybe one or two other tracks, this is APHND at their best. Everything just rocks here, and I can safely say that its still a damn fine tune after all the time that's passed. It's clear that 'Shallow Grave' was meant for something greater. Now, the other great songs here are, in this reviewer's opinion, 'In the Sleeping Death' and 'Cold Dark Mourning.' This is where the 'doom/gothic metal' description in their genre comes into play. The former is a lurching, soulful goth anthem powered by moody riffing, typical doom drumming, and vocals that really shine. It's all topped off with a chorus that I find mesmerizing. In other words, it hurts so good. The latter is a seven-minute tribute to Steele (I think, might've read this in an interview some time ago but I can't verify), and it feels the most like a TON song. Obviously not a perfect, or even carbon, copy, but I feel the emotions are genuine enough to carry the song along. The song's two parts give off a vibe not unlike early TON, and the downer beat and evil riffing (especially in its second half) is the stuff good doom is built upon.

But its everything after where things get... flimsy.

I gotta preface, there is some legitimate songwriting here. Most of the songs feel like they have real effort behind them, which is great; makes the album as a whole more tolerable. But once I started picking apart specific tracks, the veil started to disintegrate before me. There are some fun tracks; 'Devil Came with a Smile' and 'Killer by Night' are catchy as hell, to the point where I've possibly given them more playbacks than 'Shallow;' unfortunately, they lack the emotion that made the aforementioned hit so hard. They feel the most like modern metal, more in line with Alice in Chains or the heaviest of 90s grunge than doom. Not as obnoxious as other songs like them, not by a long shot, but they aren't the best of similar jams. The lyrics are nothing too original, and the songwriting doesn't feel as inspired. 'Killer' has a kind of edgy quality that makes it almost goofy, while 'Devil,' though powered by some solid riffs, feels like an overcooked perils-of-fame fable filtered through sub-Jerry Cantrell songwriting with occasional strains of NWOAHM. They aren't great, but I will not deny their fun factor. Fortunately, there is the doom-y three-minuter 'Growing Old' that keeps the gloom in good supply. It's not the best of the slower songs, but in terms of evening out, its a relatively well-done ode to facing old age that feels more in line with what APHND does best.

The weaker songs with remaining merit, 'DMSLT,' 'Day of the Storm,' and 'Dead of Winter,' all land with different-sounded thuds. In fact, 'DMSLT' actually hits a decent balance between alt-metal and doom and is very listenable (although Sal's "growls" during the bridge make me chuckle).Easily the stronger of the weaker stuff. 'Dead of Winter' is a gloomy acoustic track that... honestly isn't all that impressive. I've had this playing in the background while doing menial tasks and every time I have lost track of how far in the song I am, let alone how many times it's already played (I like songs on repeat, fight me). It's nice the first time you hear it, but loses it's magic rather quickly. 'Day of the Storm' isn't a bad song technically. Another seven-minute beast, this one feels less inspired, despite coming from a real place: terror and anxiety in the face of natural disaster. It just feels lacking, although the lyrics do have a sense of panicked dread. I almost want to recommend listening just for that, though don't expect any spectacular music.

Finally, in my opinion, the weakest song: 'The Needle in You.' Despite a few spurts of decent, this song feels like what non-metal fans think doom sounds like. Or any midtempo metal style. Abruscato's growls are at their lamest and edgiest here, and it feels so goofy to me. The riffs are uninteresting, going straight for minor key abuse right from the gate. This doesn't hit, it doesn't even make a thud, just a wet plop at the end of the day. Not to say songs about the evils of drug abuse aren't bad, but if I want that, Saint Vitus did it so much better with 'Clear Windowpane.' Not to mention the countless other artists who've done it better. Just... ugh.

At the end of the day, I can say that Lay My Soul to Waste is... decent, its a decent metal album. Will it be reverently recalled somewhere down the road as a lost classic? Or will it fall away into obscurity, only sporadically being granted a spin or two by those fascinated with its connection to Type O Negative? Honestly, probably the latter, and that's me being generous. Fortunately, I personally can say that I look back on APHND's second album fondly. High school nostalgia surely has its role to play, but its also not a terrible album. Maybe above-average, saved by a few moments of genuine inspiration, and yet ultimately marred by the opposite. I just can't stay mad at it.

But will I ever revisit it again? Probably. Who the hell knows?

With A Pale Horse Named Death's debut that had more involvement with other genres that sometimes took away from the main quality of the album, Lay My Soul to Waste has the gloomy atmosphere I was looking for, when you take into account the skeleton of the horse that fades with what looks like a cemetery and a burial, though there's still the leftover of the band songs from the debut in this album. Once again just Sal & Brown working on the album, though Matt would eventually leave the band afterwards.

Now only ten songs and the prelude, I think it's where the quality over quantity argument stands out since the debut album had exactly twelve songs and two pointless fillers, and while Lay My Soul to Waste is about as long as the debut album but more stretched and now has two seven-minute tracks, with the majority varying between three to four minutes.

In the Sleeping Death sees the return of the atmosphere the band created in the first place, only it's original in its own right and contains great and heavy guitar riffs and effects. The vocals are also great. Devil Came with a Smile has a funny vocal approach to it, though overall it's a great song. The clean guitars in the choruses are fantastic. Day of the Storm is the most accurate song to the band's labeled genre/s in this album due to its dark nature. The piano addition with its melodies was a nice touch to the atmosphere, especially during the last few minutes, while the vocals sound very creative in their approach. Much like the longest track on their debut album which is Die Alone, they stretched this song very well. DMSLT (which means "Doesn’t Make Sense Living Today") is the so-called single of the album and also has a music video, the music is pretty catchy and still contains the depression the band is portraying, which overall it's not bad.

The prelude title track has gloomy samples and reversed voices that make the opening of the album terrifying, but no musical substance to contemplate. Shallow Grave is a long but simple song. Sounds like an improvement of the majority of the band songs from the debut, but not that interesting. The Needle in You has more orientated guitar riffs and vocals, yet not a memorable song. Killer by Night had decent vocals, but it's a reminiscence of the bad taste from the debut album regardless, and I can see this song ending up on the radio...

The three songs that I found to have some potential: finally hearing some keyboards in Growing Old, however, the execution felt poor in the song's structure and vocal delivery. Even the heavy guitars weren't cover musically. I liked the dark acoustic setting in Dead of Winter, but it felt quite repetitive. At least the band experimented. Cold Dark Mourning is the perfect outro for this album, no doubt about it. The vocals and the clean guitars sound very good, but I think they could've made the song at least five minutes.

The band surely were experimenting with their sophomore album, but the approach and the sound the band produced has declined. Either they haven't found their sound yet, or they're undetermined on what they want to play since I'm sure they're influenced by a lot of artists, but the gothic/doom metal genres labeled under the band is questionable at this point. But like I said, this is the last album with Matt and the band's whereabouts were unknown for the next five years, which I suppose it's due to the music of the band. The best songs are In the Sleeping Death, Day of the Storm, and DMSLT.

While Sal Abruscato may always be best known for being the original drummer for Type O Negative and Life Of Agony, he’s getting more of a name for himself as the mastermind behind A Pale Horse Named Death. While the group’s 2011 debut was largely collaboration between Sal and guitarist Matt Brown, Lay My Soul To Waste features a full band that includes drummer Johnny Kelly in an amusing fit of irony. Either way, this project successfully carries the dirty goth metal torch once held by the late Peter Steele.

As with their debut, A Pale Horse Named Death’s second release has a similar sound and set of influences as Seventh Void, the other Drab Four spinoff that seems to be more sporadically active in comparison. Type O Negative and Alice In Chains are the leading influences in the grunge doom style though one could also find similarities to Paradise Lost, Kill Devil Hill, and the doom album that Hank Williams III put out a couple years ago.

But while Seventh Void, spent more time on the grunge end of the spectrum, this band is as close to Peter Steele’s vision as you can get. The opening “Shallow Grave” perfectly channels the Bloody Kisses tone with its “Christian Woman” verses, “Black No. 1” drum beats, and a morose chorus that really sends the point home. Tracks like “Growing Old” and “Day Of The Storm” also do a good job of showing off the keyboard-driven slower side last expressed on October Rust and World Coming Down.

Fortunately, there are songs on here that branch into the styles beyond the goth tag. “Dead Of Winter” is a neat acoustic number with a hammering rhythm that plays out like a downer version of Johnny Cash’s “God’s Gonna Cut You Down.” There are also a few spurts of harsher vocals on the lyrically cheesy “Devil Came With A Smile” and the bridge of “DMSLT.”

When it comes down to it, Lay My Soul to Waste is a great album that makes for an especially entertaining listen for Type O Negative diehards. While no group could ever match their broad influences and lyrical wit, A Pale Horse Named Death still offers good writing and enough diversity to keep things interesting. In the meantime, we’ll just have to see if another Seventh Void effort will ever see the light of day…

Current Highlights:
“Shallow Grave”
“Killer By Night”
“Dead Of Winter”
“Day Of The Storm”
“DMSLT”

Originally published at http://psychicshorts.blogspot.com

This is A Pale Horse Named Death's sophomore release. This band is the brainchild of former Type O Negative and Life Of Agony drummer Sal Abruscato, now operating as vocalist, guitarist, and co-producer as well. This two-man studio unit is complete with guitarist, bass player, and co-producer Matt Brown. I haven't listened to their debut, 2011's And Hell Will Follow Me, but I wish I had because to my ears Lay My Soul To Waste is one of 2013's better records at this point.

Abruscato's vocal performance is smashing and so empathic and passionate that follows this darker music close to perfection. Alternative metal, doom, goth metal or heavy grunge, call it what you want. To me, this is dark, heavy, and emotional music springing from the veins of his former bands as well as in bands like Paradise Lost or a heavier Alice In Chains.

It's varied with slower and effective songs and more angry pieces alternately. When I hear songs like In The Sleeping Death and Day Of The Storm I get totally immersed in the moment. I don't know if this album is so much different from other releases and I just don't care because most of the songs are so damn great that they can make a grown man cry.

If you're a fan of any of the bands mentioned above, I truly recommend you give this album a shot as I'm truly impressed by this awesome effort. I really don't want to stop listening to it.

Originally written for www.metalcovenant.com