ALBUM REVIEW: Forever We Burn – High Parasite
Do not be fooled – HIGH PARASITE is anything BUT a side project. It may boast the formidable voice of Aaron Stainthorpe, the frontman of UK doom legends MY DYING BRIDE, however anyone who thinks this is just something to do when his more famous band aren’t active is very much mistaken. Stainthorpe is in collaboration with bassist/vocalist Tombs in HIGH PARASITE, their line-up completed by guitarists Jonny Hunter and Sam Hill and drummer Dan Brown and the collective belief is simple: dark, gothic music doesn’t have to be confined to the shadows. To that end comes Forever We Burn, their debut album on Candlelight and out on Friday, September 27th.
If any more proof was needed that HIGH PARASITE are intent on bringing light into the darkness, the band have described their style as ‘death pop’ which, the more that Forever We Burn continues, becomes increasingly on brand. This is brooding, gothic rock with conventional structures, all songs but one wrapped up in less than five minutes, yet containing Stainthorpe‘s unmistakeable growls.
There’s obviously nowt wrong with a storming, goth dancefloor filler and this album comes armed with plenty, from the stomping Wasn’t Human that sounds like a lovechild of THE SISTERS OF MERCY and THE CULT to Hate Springs Eternal that takes on a more modern feel akin to the works of H.I.M and, more recently, UNTO OTHERS. Concentric Nightmares is an industrial thumper that will get bodies moving and closing track We Break We Die brings in some of those dark electronic beats that are well-grounded in the cybergoth subculture. Stainthorpe naturally provides the most star power but Tombs‘ rich bass vocals are just as potent – unsurprisingly, they bring a TYPE O NEGATIVE air to the whole affair.
It would be better if it didn’t have such a slow, inconspicuous start. None of the opening three songs – the title track, My Syndrome or Grave Intentions – see the band hit the ground running; rather, they get to third gear and then seemingly coast their way to the finish line. The second of these is the worst offender – the choruses have something about them, but the verses are dull and do not stay long in the memory at all – while the latter strays past the conventional and into the formulaic; there’s nothing wrong with a basic structure, but if this is something that’s been heard many times over and to a higher standard, it leaves anything not up to scratch on a hiding to nothing. The aforementioned Wasn’t Human cranks up the tempo and from there things improve significantly – if only it had all been at that standard…
When Forever We Burn gets going, it’s a highly enjoyable album with a number of earworms that will delight fans from across the gothic and metal universe, whether you’ve been in the scene for decades or new to the whole culture. If it had come storming out of the blocks then we might have been looking at an Album of the Year contender; as it is, we’ve got an album that may have just fallen short of HIGH PARASITE‘s own expectations, but has plenty to get excited about. If this is indeed to be a full-time and multi-album project, the potential on the sophomore release is tantalising.
Rating: 7/10
Forever We Burn is set for release on September 27th via Candlelight Records.
Like HIGH PARASITE on Facebook.