Death in Texas are another great band that has escaped the chain-like clutches of the New Zealand native music scenes, and for good reason. Their sound is at the dark end of pop, a vine the local bigwigs fear to pluck fruit from, and in whose shade the sheeple fear to tread.

As I try to describe the sound of the latest single from the trio, Fear of the Hundred, it’s hard to keep away from band names like Muse and Cat Venom. It’s easy to compare and contrast the Death in Texas sound to other bands and say things like “it’s like Muse, only female fronted and minus all guitars but the bass”, or “it’s like Cat Venom, but with a live drummer”. 

That’s not fair to Death in Texas. They deserve better.

Their music is unique. Theatrical, blissfully melancholic. Fear of the Hundred starts off with a rather Middle-Eastern bass line, something you’d hear in Tool or old SOAD. Sultry vocals introduce the drums and piano. The music rises, the chords getting more complicated as they push through the traditional verse prechorus structure of pop. And just as you think you have it sussed. Bang. The song gets heavier. The bass and drum become more rocky, borderline metal even. An operatic cry from the vocalist, but not in the overused style popularised by Evanescence and every other semi-alternative female fronted band that came after her. 

The bass, keyboard and drum combination is not something commonly seen and I admire their ability to fuse Gothic Cabaret vocals and piano, Progressive Rock drumming and Middle-Eastern style bass lines coherently. And not to be crass, but the backing oohs, aahs and singing as the song came back home to silence gave me a bit of an ear boner.

You can find Death in Texas all over the internet, but I found them at their Bandcamp (http://deathintexas.bandcamp.com/). I also took the opportunity to grab a copy of their EP, We Will Implode.

While you’re looking, find the video for Fear of the Hundred on Youtube. It’s a great performance piece with good use of contrast that says so much about the music. The darkness and light, the pop and the rock, the dilapidated environment and well dressed band members.

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