By way of explanation: New York City was often referred to as ‘Fear City’ in the early 1980s. At that time, illegal prostitution, protection rackets and drug trafficking thrived in the city which was notorious for its high crime and violence rates – for international power metal band Them the perfect setting for the continuation of their trilogy surrounding main protagonist KK Fossor. What was set in the 19th century on their first three album releases, ‘Sweet Hollow’ (2016), ‘Manor Of The Se7en Gables’ (2018) and ‘Return To Hemmersmoor’ (2020), is continued on ‘Fear City’, albeit with a 120-year time shift and the descendants of the original characters. “In a nutshell: KK Fossor is trying to find the descendant of the Witchhunter, who works as a televangelist under the name of Peter Thompson in 1981 New York,” explains Markus Ullrich, the band’s German guitarist and creative mastermind. ‘Fear City’ will be released on Steamhammer/SPV on 28 October 2022, preceded by two lead singles: 19 August 2022 will see the arrival of ‘Welcome To Fear City’, supported by an amazing video clip. ‘Retro 54’ is set to follow six weeks later on 30 September 2022. The third single, ‘Graffiti Park’, will probably be released simultaneously with the album or immediately afterwards. Both numbers will also be supported by video clips.
This
exciting mélange of horror and fantasy story is flanked by the usual dynamic
songs, a hybrid of raw metal riffs, complex and frequently fast-paced grooves
and surprisingly catchy chorus parts. Markus Ullrich: “This is a special
feature with Them: We play hard, technically accomplished guitar parts,
combined with a solid basic toughness, yet we don’t just bark out the chorus,
but sing it very melodically. Some songs on ‘Fear City’ are even heavier than
expected, you could say: They really let rip! But our singer is fantastic and
our songs make purposeful forays into a wide range of different stylistic
directions.” Ullrich is referring to typical Them numbers such as the opener
‘Flight Of The Concorde’, the above-mentioned first single ‘Welcome To Fear
City’ and even a slightly slower track such as ‘The Crossing Of Hellgate
Bridge’ with its wonderfully elegiacal atmosphere.
At
the same time, ‘Fear City’ holds a number of unexpected elements in store: ‘191st
Street’ features classic progressive metal, the verse on ‘Graffiti Park’ has a
dark doom part, ‘The Deconsecrated House Of Sin’ starts with a classic black
metal riff, and ‘Death On The Downtown Metro’ surprises with blast beats.
Ullrich: “I’m especially proud of the final track ‘In The 11th Hour’ with its
atmospheric intro and sustained, epic doom metal vibe.”
Speaking
of atmosphere: As usual, ‘Fear City’ succeeds in transporting its listeners to
a different, fictional world, in this case the year 1981. “We’ve deliberately
included keyboard sounds, little radio play snippets and cross-references to
the 1980s,” explains Ullrich, who has first-rate musicians by his side, namely
vocalist KK Fossor, guitarist Markus Johansson (Sylencer, 4ARM), bassist Alexander
Palma and keyboardist Richie Seibel (Lanfear, Ivanhoe), and only had to enlist
a new drummer in Steve Bolognese (ex-Witherfall, Into Eternity) due to the
lockdown caused by the pandemic. As on the previous albums, American sound
mastermind Dave Otero was in charge of the mix and drum recordings at his
Flatline Audio studio in Denver, Colorado.
Last
but not least comes the not entirely insignificant question: Is the new concept
album ‘Fear City’, like ‘Sweet Hollow’, the prelude to a story that will be
continued in several instalments? Ullrich: “Everything’s possible, nothing is
carved in stone. The end of the story leaves lots of options. And that’s
precisely what makes our new album so exciting right down to the very last
note!”
Line-Up:
KK Fossor – vocals
Markus Johansson – guitars
Markus Ullrich – guitars
Steve Bolognese – drums
Richie Seibel – keyboards
Alexander Palma – bass
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