Album review: A PALE HORSE NAMED DEATH – Lay My Soul To Waste

SPV Steamhammer [Release date – 27^th May 2013 ]

A Pale Horse Named Death were founded by ex Life Of Agony and co-founder of Type O Negative Sal Abruscato. This album is dedicated to the memory of TON frontman Pete Steele and is a suitably dark affair.

Type O are the obvious influence here but there is also a huge dose of Alice In Chains in the mix as well. All tracks are built on huge, rumbling riffs that bulldoze your senses. This is not a feel good, summertime album, this is a doom laden, black monster that I am sure Pete Steele would have heartily approved of.

‘Shallow Grave’ opens proceedings with a groove straight from the Black Sabbath songbook. Heavy and plodding, the song lumbers its way along on a solid detuned riff. ‘The Needle In You’ then heads deep into Alice In Chains territory, still uber-heavy but with melody and harmonies throughout.

‘Dead Of Winter’ is one of the album highlights and adds an atmospheric acoustic edge, it is quite a simple song but very effective. Another track of note is ‘Day Of The Storm’ which is the longest track on the album and proves to be an epic piece of writing, this is another slow, brooding number that creates a bleak musical landscape. This track is possibly the closest the band get to recreating the soundscapes of Type O in all their majesty.

As a tribute to Pete Steele, Abruscato has done the big man proud. This is a well written doom album with a black heart but with a creative musical soul, very much like Mr Steele himself. ****

David Wilson

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