HALLOWMAS „The Road to Hallow”

Music: Horror Punk/Rock n Roll
Country: USA
Website: http://www.hallowmascrypt.com
Duration: 19.47
Cool Songs: The Hanging Girl, Miss Devil Doll, Twins of Evil

Formed in 2002 by vocalist Boris Randall and Damien Matthews, Hallowmas’ main philosophy was to write dark, haunting rock n roll tunes. Some call it horror punk, but such a description possibly has more to do with their lyrical themes and blatantly provocative image. Still, the spectre of Samhain, Danzig and The Misfits looms so large in the music and dark imagery of Hallowmas, that it is extremely hard to deny just where these guys are coming from. Horror Punk? Rock n Roll? Whatever the case, Hallowmas are keen for you to experience their take on the style. And with their influences firmly attached to their sleeves, they make a mighty fist of it.

Hallowmas are a band that has a real DYI indie attitude about it. The journey to this point is worth noting: ‘The Road to Hallow’s Eve’ (a 20 minute, 7 track EP) is only their second ‘label’ release, it follows up the Coffin Records debut full length of 2004, ‘October Burning’. However, prior to and in between both releases, Hallowmas have released no less than four independent singles/EP’s, each of them hand numbered and limited to 100 copies!! In June 2003, they put out a CD single for the song ‘Zodiac’ backed with ‘Wasp Woman’ and ‘The Pit’. One month later, the band issued its second single for the song ‘From Beyond’ backed with ‘The South Will Rise Again, We Are The Living Dead’ and the orchestral instrumental ‘Intro To Morella’. Then in December, Hallowmas issued their third independent release titled ‘Unholy Autumn’. This CD was an 8 song EP featuring studio left-overs and ‘October Burning’ tracks. Incredibly, even with these three releases under their belt in a six month period, due to various recording/art work delays, it would take another 9 months for the ‘October Burning’ full length to see the light of day.

The process involved in the release of this new 7 track EP seems almost as laborious. ‘The Road..’ was actually recorded and finished not five weeks after the release of ‘October Burning’, but in March 2005, Boris decided to re-record the whole thing and with the help of Necrophagia’s Killjoy they knocked it over in two weeks. But of course, it doesn’t end there, and true to form ‘Hallowmas’ issued another independent CD – once again Limited to 100 copies, ‘Dead And Buried’ contains 8 rare, demo, and unreleased tracks from a studio session in October 2004. Finally on August 1st, Coffin Records released ‘The Road to Hallow’s Eve’.

Taking massive cues from Glen Danzig and the Misfits Horror Punk image – right down to the ‘Metal Elvis’ vocal tones and skeleton uniform/corpse paint image, Boris Randall’s Hallowmas makes no apologies for what they do. Fortunately, their music is much more than a straight up rip-off session. As stated, theirs is imbibed with a real energetic ‘rock n roll’ ethic rather than anything old school punk. Think Motorhead rather than The Sex Pistols. The dark lyrical themes (stories of witches, demonic possession, Aliens, serial killers (Ed Gein) and rituals) and thick atmospheric production (less clean than October Burning) also adds a nice individual charm to their song writing. The method is quite simple really – attractive riffs, throbbing bass lines, a mid-tempo back beat and catchy sing a long choruses. Nothing complex; nothing technical; just dark laced Rock n Roll. ‘The Road…’ also features Killjoy on backing vocals of ‘Miss Devil Doll’ (in typical Gore infused fashion) and Pagan’s Night plus a short, eerie instrumental piece written by Killjoy and Sigh’s Mirai Kawashima.

To the knowledgeable Misfits/Samhain fan, Hallowmas will sound like a very familiar band. Yet, despite the close to bone musical methodology, there is a certain charm and appeal about what they do. The bottom line is it’s catchy as hell, lyrically smart and most of all, good fun to listen to. Taken for what it is, ‘The Road to Hallow’s Eve rocks your lame ass. All 19 minutes and 47 seconds of it.

note: Quote: 8

Tracklist

The Hanging Girl
Twins of Evil
Planet X
Miss Devil Doll
When You’re Blue
The Road to Hallow’s Eve
Pagan’s Night

Line-up

Boris Randall: vocals, noise guitar
Damien Matthews: guitars
Johnny Coffin: bass
Drew Blood: drums