Mini Review:
Fearing
‘A Life of None’
Funeral Party
The kind of dark, brooding, and equally booming rock music that Fearing create on their debut EP 'A Life of None' has been sorely missing in recent years.
The Oakland based group, who's members come from various backgrounds in punk and hardcore (most notably Creative Adult), came together out of a passion for the one thing all old (indie) punks love.....Goth. With a self-described sound as “sort of like Asylum Party mixed with Sisters Of Mercy—maybe with a slight Nick Cave edge to it,” Fearing have carved out a niche of their own…
The gloomy post-punks bring what you’ve come to expect in their short existence, brooding Goth Rock where guitars are the tools of choice. Opener “Behind the Mask” finds vocalist/bassist James Rogers bellowing in & around ringing guitars, propulsive bass, and an organically cold beat.
Second song, and lead single, “Beyond Light” sticks to the aggressively dark template of chiming guitars, thick bass, and wallowed out vocals. "A Way With Me" is a pitch perfect slice of gloom rock, blackened yet easily danceable. The guitars are loud, the bass pronounced, and the subtle synth buried in the track's final third is a thing of beauty.
The EP closes out with the morose "Another Night" which lurches along in a menacing way that frays the nerves but doesn't stop you from wanting to slow dance. “Another Night” is further proof that you can’t put a price on the tried & true combination of pronounced bass, spidery guitar leads, and singing from within a cave.
'A Life of None' is four solid Goth Rock songs that don't try and reinvent the wheel, because reinventing the wheel in 2017 is fucking stupid, so give into fear and submerse yourself in gloom laden perfection.
