A PALE HORSE NAMED DEATH comes galloping at the heels of the late Type O Negative. The band is the brainchild of former Type O Negative drummer Sal Abruscato, who appeared on Slow, Deep & Hard, Origin Of Feces and Bloody Kisses. Whether their name foreshadowed the death of Peter Steele is still remains a mystery, as he was suppose to do background vocals on this album, but passed away before he could do so. And Hell Will Follow Me is the very first release for APHND and certainly I’d imagine it won’t be the last.

Beginning with As Black As My Heart I am pleasantly surprised. This song has the same sound style as Type O Negative, but in a different way. More of the sound is played up with heavy downtuned guitars. With dreamy lyrics Sal takes the song to the next level with his clean vocal styling. Depressing and doomy we go for a ride on the Heroin Train, which takes you down the dirty road of addiction painting the bleakest of bleak pictures. It is also one of the stand out songs and one that showcases APHND more original sound. Keeping the drug theme alive with the songs Pill Head, and Bath In My Blood (Schizophrenia In Me). One has to wonder if he is writing from experience. If so Sal has reached in and pulled out some wicked demons. Cracks In The Wall has a really cool riff that reminiscent of the Stone’s song Paint It Black. Some songs in the middle of the album get a bit mundane at times. The best songs were saved for last. When Crows Descend Upon You is the song that will grab you and pull you into the velvet darkness of the music. With its somber beat and heavy slowly strummed guitar you will get lost within the song. Closing out the album is Die Alone and it is truly a misanthrope’s theme song. Dreary guitars and a drum beat as slow as death. I could almost hear Peter Steele singing this song. I hate to say this but Type O Negative’s influence has heavily coated And Hell Will Follow Me. The production of the music is very much the same, but the bass is turned down low in the mix. Its not exactly T.O.N. but A PALE HORSE NAMED DEATH is the closest you are going to get to hearing this style of music. Not all is lost in that fair world, and Sal will keep that green torch burning.