The debut album Forever We Burn has been described by the band High Parasite as the birth of ‘Death Pop’. Evolving from a fusion of metal, gothic rock and dark synth pop, Forever We Burn is released this week.
If you are a fan of Paradise Lost, Sisters of Mercy or indeed almost any other goth band, then Forever We Burn will make an ideal musical accompaniment for a visit to the darker side of life.
High Parasite is fronted by Aaron Stainthorpe from the doom metal band My Dying Bride, and Stainthorpe has already been explicit about the importance of High Parasite: “This is not a side project. It’s a new touring and recording band, and with ‘Forever We Burn’, our debut studio album, we’re showing our love for all things gothic and grand, along with a collective belief that dark music doesn’t have to be confined to the shadows. It’s a big part of global consciousness and culture, and our plans for the future are as broad as possible”.
Stainthorpe is well supported by the multi-talented songwriter Tombs on bass and vocals, Jonny Hunter on lead guitar, Sam Hill on rhythm guitar and the addition of Dan Brown on drums completes the five-piece line-up. Heather Thompson from Tapping The Vein also provides some additional vocals on the album.
The opener to the album is its namesake track, and with its opening electronic/synth pop influences you could almost be transported back to the darker side of the 1980s. Although these influences are quickly shaken off as the Forever We Burn moves into the heavier and riff-driven opening verse, and when you arrive at the first chorus the shift to death vocals is almost unexpected, yet well suited.
My Syndrome is slower paced and allows the vocals to really shine through and the shift between vocal styles as the track progresses contributes to a well-rounded track. Moving onto the faster and heavier third track, Grave Intentions, the band commented that “the song is a narrative / warning of how overwhelmingly and dangerously obsessed some can become living vicariously through the internet and social media; the decay of real human interaction / connection and the reactions to being cut out and blocked from other people’s online life.”
The fourth track Wasn’t Human opens with a hard riff and driving bass. The lyrics are particularly catchy, so you will probably find yourself singing along to it almost immediately. This track has already been released as a single and you can watch the excellent video for it here:
Concentric Nightmares almost feels like it could move into a head on battle between the electronic and the instrumental, but when the two do come together, the result is a smooth track that is also enhanced by the vocals.
Like Grave Intentions, the following tracks, Hate Springs Eternal and Parasite offer up a superb vocal contrast which is well supported by some heavy riffs. If you are a Paradise Lost fan, you’ll definitely pick up on some of the guitar lines across the album – not completely unexpected because Greg Mackintosh from Paradise Lost has produced Forever We Burn.
Coming in with a doom-laden opening, Let It Fail is yet another track that really showcases the vocal and musical capabilities of High Parasite and the doom continues into the penultimate track, Widowmaker. The final track, We Break We Die has been well selected and rather than a long goodbye – it does feel more like the end of the first chapter from High Parasite and there is a hope that the wait for the second chapter will not be too long.
Powerful bass and guitar lines along with a good range of vocal techniques adds real depth across the album tracks, and as expected, the deliciously gothic lyrics help cement this album firmly within the goth genres. The synth/electronic components also add additional value to the tracks, and it is from these that you start to understand how the ‘Death Pop’ label has come about.
Like others that have gone before, High Parasite has crossed genres, and the result of this fusion along with a strong line-up offers an extremely well-constructed and highly enjoyable debut album.
“…. Forever We Burn will make an ideal musical accompaniment for a visit to the darker side of life.”
Forever We Burn is released via Candlelight/Spinefarm on the 27th of September 2024. Available to buy on CD and white vinyl from Spinefarm and Candlelight , the album will also be available to stream on all the usual platforms including Spotify and Apple Music.
High Parasite are now out on a launch tour at selected venues in the UK and Europe and in November they will be supporting Cradle of Filth.
Track Listing
- Forever We Burn
- My Syndrome
- Grave Intentions
- Wasn’t Human
- Concentric Nightmares
- Hate Springs Eternal
- Parasite
- Let It Fail
- Widowmaker
- We Break We Die
Credits
- Aaron Stainthorpe (lead)
- Tombs (bass/vocals/songwriting)
- Jonny Hunter (lead guitar)
- Sam Hill (rhythm guitar)
- Dan Brown (drums)
- Heather Thompson (additional vocals)
- Gregor Mackintosh (producer)
You can learn more about the Forever We Burn on High Parasite’s website , Facebook , YouTube channel and Instagram .
Special thanks to Spinefarm records.
