Music Review: Strap On Halo - Altar of Interim

2016 has been a busy year for Seattle-based goth rock group Strap On Halo. In January, the group released Prayers For The Living (an eleven-track album featuring seven brand new songs and four previously released songs that had been re-recorded and re-imagined). The summer was largely spent writing and recording a new four song EP, Altar Of Interim, and planning out a tour of both the US and Europe. And that only gets us to August!

Strap On Halo (L-R): Layla Reyna, Sean Rial, Marc Jones

Strap On Halo's prior work has melded elements of the original 80s post punk "goth" bands such as Siouxsie and the Banshees and lesser-known Xmal Deutschland with more modern sentiments from acts like Italy's Spiritual Bat, Skeleton Family, and the March Violets. The main trademark of Strap On Halo's music is the mixture of fancy guitar work from Sean Rial over the driving, yet subtle, bass lines provided by Marc Jones meshed to the always smooth and soaring vocal performance of Layla Reyna. With this backdrop in mind, we put needle to wax (metaphorically...this EP is not available on vinyl) and give it a spin.

The EP opens on "Perish" and immediately sets the tone for what's to come. The song has some parallels to Turkish darkwave band She Past Away (particularly "Sanri" off the first album) but with a stronger, more pronounced guitar riff that brings a tinge of early Sisters of Mercy to the plate. After a bit, Reyna's voice joins in, providing a textural contrast to the music. The change in lyric rhythm between the first and second verses works nicely (it caught my ear and made me go "oooh" when I first heard it). Without spending forever on just this one song, "Perish" certainly exceeds expectations and excels at drawing the listener in for more.

"Shiver" starts off with percussion only before the guitars enter, bringing a little bit of the early 80s Cure sound with it but heavier on the delay. Reyna's vocals again provide an interesting textural contrast to the music, being slightly succinct compared to the flowing guitar. A solid song in its own right, "Shiver" is closer in some ways to some of the prior Strap On Halo material.

Third on the EP is "Crimson Waves" which is closer to "Perish" in form and delivery. The music is very catchy and immediately sticks with the listener. Truly a song which melds the original goth wave with the new, this song is a gleaming example of how to keep the genre fresh without alienating its past. Without having anything further of merit to add to the discussion, I do hope this one makes it to the setlist.

The EP ends on "Fearless." Musically it's some mixture of Sisters of Mercy meets Christian Death infused with March Violets (you have that distorted guitar sound, the heavier/chunkier chords, but somehow its a lighter/happier...for being goth, work with me here...sound). Lyrically a bit more sinister than other songs, "Fearless" does hold true to the title by not holding back. An interesting song from a musical standpoint, it rounds out the EP on a very strong note.

Overall, yet another strong showing from Strap On Halo and a good combination of their signature sound with some new experimentation to boot. The group have just kicked off their Altar of Interim Tour of the US and stop by Double Wide in Dallas, Texas, on August 17. Tickets are still available, so don't miss out! In September, Strap On Halo go overseas for the first time to rejoin 2014's Near Dark Tour headliners The Last Cry for the Near Dark Over Europe Tour. There's no telling what will be next for these guys, so keep an eye and stay tuned!

Concert Review: Strap On Halo, The Last Cry Visit Austin on the Near Dark Tour

(Note: Yes, I know the photos are missing for some reason. The site I wrote this article for originally seems to have taken them down. Working to get it fixed, but until then, this posting will look a bit odd)

Strap On Halo (Omaha, Nebraska) visited Austin back on Friday, March 21st as part of the Near Dark Tour along with late-80s post-punk/gothic rock group The Last Cry (Brighton, England) and DJs Martin Oldgoth and Augustine Strange.

Strap On Halo / Laura Davila

Taking the stage first, Strap On Halo performed a 12 song set that heavily focused on their recent EP, Haunted, and visited tracks from their past work, including their debut album The Dead Don't Lie. With each song, frontwoman Layla Reyna's vocals shined mercilessly, soaring from note to note as she sang about various things that could haunt a person. Original founder Sean Rial added to the gloomy mood with a lacing of guitar work that wove between the programmed beats and synthesizers to add an ethereal tone. Bass guitarist Marc Jones rounded out the lineup with his enthusiastic play and fun stage presence. The first half of the set saw Strap On Halo guide us through "Only In Death," "Monsters," and perhaps my favorite off the Haunted EP, "Hunger." While small, the audience enjoyed dancing and bopping their heads in time to the music. As Strap On Halo began to wind down the full set, they pulled out the reworked version of "Strigoi" and "You And Your Ghost."

Layla Reyna of Strap On Halo / Laura Davila

Overall, their performance was amazing. The fog machine was a little distracting, but the three took it in stride and made it work for them. Reyna's vocals were perfect as ever, commanding a similar stylistic quality in person, as on recording, to that of Siouxsie Sioux herself. Rial and Jones both made their instruments come to life, taking them far beyond the traditional roles a guitar and bass guitar play in a band. The only pitfall of the night was that only a small handful of Austinites were there to witness these guys.

Following Strap On Halo were The Last Cry. Having formed in the late 80s, The Last Cry only have two full length albums due to a series of lineup changes and a hiatus during the 90s. On stage, however, the band are as lively as any new act and eager to draw people in. Their sound, as one may expect, is very reminiscent of the original dark post-punk bands, sounding like a mesh of The Cure and Depeche Mode.

The Last Cry / Laura Davila

Frontman Andrew Birch sang each song with a passion and intensity that was very catching. Vocally he sounded very similar to Dave Gahan (of Depeche Mode) which worked very well with the style of music played by the other members of the band. On guitar, Tim Green played with precision and control while also manning the laptop to make the appropriate transitions between songs. Rounding out the group is Chris Carey on bass guitar who also played with great passion and movement on stage. The only thing that felt a bit strange about The Last Cry was that they have no live drummer when the music would be well complemented with one. Additionally, while the crowd had picked up a little more from Strap On Halo's set, it was still a bit thin for The Last Cry which I think was a shame as you all once again missed out on a great group.

The night was made complete with excellent music selections from DJs Martin Oldgoth and Augustine Strange who both played a range of music surveying goth rock, post-punk, industrial, and everything between that the goth culture has laid claim to.

Overall, the Near Dark Tour was a wonderful experience and a great opportunity to learn about some great bands that should be far bigger than they currently are. If you weren't here, you honestly missed out on a fun night with very talented people. The Near Dark Tour just reached its conclusion, but keep an eye out for both of these bands as their future is bright (or should I be saying it's gloomy because, you know, goth music?).

Note: Apologies for the large delay in this posting. There's been a bit of a snafu with media postings at the site Laura and I were with, so in an effort to at least ensure the word got out about this show, I've moved it here to this blog (formatting is also a bit off, so I'll look at fixing that soon). We did conduct an interview with Strap On Halo, but a lot of the audio we took has unfortunately been lost. I'll see what I can salvage from what's left.