Album Review: THE OTHER - Haunted

01. Mark of the Devil
02. We're All Dead
03. Turn It Louder
04. Dead to You - Dead to Me
05. Was uns zerstort
06. On My Skin
07. 1408 & 217
08. Vampire Girl
09. Absolution
10. Fading Away
11. Creepy Crawling
12. To Hell and Back
13. The Silence After the First Snow 

I first discovered The Other shortly after they released their second album, We Are Who We Eat back in 2006. After a little research, I found out that they used to be a Misfits tribute band, and then went on to do their own material as 'The Other'. It explained a lot, as both their music and image were very similar to The Misfits, which, if I'm honest, is why I liked them in the first place.

As the years went on, despite still clearly having a strong Misfits influence, The Other have found their own sound and their albums have got better and better.

Their latest album Haunted is certainly a gem in their repertoire. There seems to be a strong 69 Eyes influence running throughout, along with the expected Horror Punk, adding a nice Gothic Hard Rock twist. The song Dead To You - Dead To Me is a great example of this

Opener Mark of the Devil has some 80's Heavy Metal riffing mixed in there which works nicely, making for a cracking opening track.

We're All Dead, which is the first single, is extremely catchy and classic The Other. It's a great introduction to the band for anyone listening to them for the first time. Fortunately, the band have kept to this high standard throughout the record.

Other favourites include Vampire Girl, which would make a great single, the ice-cool Fading Away, the Pop-meets-Thrash of Creepy Crawling, and the commercial Hard Rock of To Hell And Back.

After giving Haunted a few listens, I can safely say that this is their strongest album so far. It may have ventured a little too far into commercial mainstream territories for some fans, but I think that this approach has proven to be the right one. The songs are strong and have the potential to reach a wider audience than some of their previous records, but still retain plenty of Horror Punk fire.