18 Fevers – Danse Macabre
Genre: Punk, Post-Punk, Alternative Rock
Sex and death are two topics often covered in rock music, and most often together. They both possess a similar sort of allure, especially to young people, the core target audience of this type of art form. And, if psychologist reports are to be believed, this is all for very good reason. After all, an orgasm is as close to dying that one might come before actually shuffling off this mortal coil.
The fascination remains just as strong in modern times, and current events will likely only encourage it. Jim Morrison talked about a killer bringing about The End. The Gun Club came up with Sex Beat in the wake of the cold war. And, even the grunge bands incorporated misanthropy and death in a style of music that millions found irresistible.
18 Fevers’ Danse Macabre belong to the tradition of beautiful rockstars bravely facing damnation. Their music doesn’t so much ask an audience to join in their tragedy but forces them to dance to the news. There’s never enough music meant to be played at parties in dark, abandoned warehouses and 18 Fever certainly carve a place for themselves.
Count Pariah – Paranoia
Bands that survive over the years demand fanaticism from their followers and blind loyalty. It’s just the way things go.
You have to feel sorry for the kinds of groups that merely manage to sell concert tickets and fill the cophers of festival vendors. If their audience is easily willing to move on to the next concert stage, then the writing is most likely on the wall for the group in question.
Bands like Tool, Primus, or Ween didn’t merely create fans but lifestyle choices. It is natural then that the groups that followed in their wake would wish to grab some of that magic for their own, that they would demand more from themselves and their music.
Count Pariah’s Paranoia is a song that doesn’t merely attempt to offer a comment on the state of the world but an entire refuge for those that feel overwhelmed by it. The group trades in familiar alt-metal tactics, but all of them are executed well and efficiently. The band’s sound is steeped in that strange mix of misanthropy and optimism of 90s rock. And the song provides the same kind of power.
