Modern Monsters – Prism
Genre: Stoner Rock, Alternative Rock
Most people can’t stand spending time alone with themselves. It’s not just the boredom that they’re afraid will get them. It’s having to hear themselves think about the things that they might end up thinking about. It’s pretty terrifying, hinting that you might just have an enemy deep inside your brain and knowing you have to fight to keep him under lock & key.
This is why we need loud music, people to surround us at all times, and, for many of us, therapy. It’s all about getting a guide to travel to those dark places or avoiding acknowledging that they exist altogether. But, inevitably, the door to the slammer gets left open from time to time. And the noises of whatever is down there are enough to freeze the blood of someone who’s been planting flowers around the Chornobyl power plant (real story, btw!)
Modern Monsters write fantasy songs about things that may turn out to be very true. “Prism” is an exploration of the wildest, darkest parts of the imagination. Show, don’t tell is a piece of advice artists get all the time. And, Modern Monsters use their mix of 80s pop-metal and engaging stoner rock to create an anxiety-filled atmosphere that drops you right into the lair of the beast.
The Entrepreneurs – Find a Face
Similar artists: Baby In Vain, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Placebo
Genre: Alternative Rock
Rock musicians branching out into doing horror movies is a trendy thing right now. But it makes total sense. It’s a bit like country singers deciding that they want to own a ranch or reggae singers investing in weed crop fields in Colorado, Jamaica. Some things just go together, and business-minded professional musicians can’t help but take advantage of them.
What’s the connection between horror and rock music? Well, both of them work using contrast. Take any horror movie, and you’ll notice that the monster/killer/ghost is only shown briefly during the first minutes, is not shown again for about an hour, and then dominates the ending. Hard-rocking songs need to use the same formula to be powerful.
Danish group The Entrepreneurs understand rock dynamics very well and use them to their advantage for the single “Find a Face.” Yes, the song is built on creepy vibes. But in order to really make the vocals and distorted guitars pop, quiet time is encouraged as well. The monster is around the corner. We just won’t let you see it yet! But, when we do…