Driving rock unit Hero and The Horror have turned the corner after a grueling stretch amid the last 18 months of the pandemic.
Stitched together from former members whose resume includes Unearth, Once Beloved, Man of Velocity, Before Darkened Ashes, and All My Sins, the band began gaining their footing in 2018 with a series of live gigs, and a promising outlook as hard rock journeymen with a new vehicle of artistry.
That auspicious start however was sidelined by the crippling effects of the pandemic - shuddering live music venues and forcing musicians to refocus their priorities in the wake of a constantly changing reality. As a band, Hero and The Horror would face significant setbacks in personnel changes and an inabiiity to cultivate a fanbase with stages remaining closed for an unprecedented length of time.
Proving resilient however, the band would find an ally in guitarist Michael Drost and began getting to work on the debut that didn't seem likely just months prior. Hero and the Horror would released Chapter 1, their debut EP, in the summer of 2020, with the single "When They See Us" garnering respectable radio rotation in their native New England, the Midwest, and stretching into Europe.
Providing the shot in the arm needed to persevere through such a turbulent time for artists, the EP saw Hero and the Horror find their identity and resume their run at heavy rock glory. The follow up to the band's 2020 EP features the Joel Stroetzel (Killswitch Engage) engineer "Another World" - a melodic track that showcases the balanced approach the band flexes in their brand of hard rock.
The track's tragic take on love and loss utilizes the mystique of one of America's most haunted locations in the infamous Belchertown State School for the Feeble-Minded in Massachusetts. Noted for it's established history of the paranormal, the story goes that the grounds are inhabited by the ghosts of two departed residents who were in love but cruelly kept apart as part of the restrictive environment of the institution that robbed it's residents of basic, fundamental human rights.
The lyrics from vocalist Deann Dewey further drive home the mythos of the location and how it all plays into the narrative of the track - I want to dig my dark grave next to yours and I will lie here forever with you. In another World... In this other World... This is our World."
The band's bassist John "Slo" Maggard explained, "Obviously we were familiar with the legendary site and were enamored with the it's oddly beautiful, overgrown ruins. Although closed to the public, Josh was, remarkably, able to get permission from Belchertown officials to shoot there and we are extremely grateful to them as we could not imagine a more perfect setting for the video of 'Another World.'"
Slo added the sense of reverence that added to the significance of the video shoot. "For me, walking through there was both eerie and solemn. Of course the band was very excited to get the final shots of our video underway, but simultaneously I was getting a sense of what it was like for the residents and particularly a family member that resided there in his final days. Knowing the history this place held, the experience for me was surreal and heavy hearted."
The first of two singles from the sessions with Joel Streotzel, the band is aiming to debut the second cut, "Empty Handed" in the very near future before going into the studio with Kia Eshghi (former touring UNEARTH guitarist), of Hanging Moon Records for a proper full length introduction.
Up first however, the emotive tale of love that transcends the physical in the latest from Hero and the Horror, "Another World".
Chapter I from Hero and the Horror is available to stream - HERE
