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Image: Vasili Papathanasopoulos
Everyone needs a soundtrack for spooky season right? Luckily, the boys in LSF (FKA Left Side Filter) have your Halloween weekend soundtrack sorted. Full of twists and turns, the rock record takes its inspiration from classic horror films and television programs, musically influenced by Black Sabbath, Radiohead and Silverchair.
Opening with the brooding title track, Halloween Night, the four-piece from Shellharbour set the scene for what’s to come. With a massive guitar riff that could fit perfectly into any Halloween themed film, the mostly instrumental track is complete with operatic backing vocals from Sam Allen and a mesmerising vocal performance from frontman Blake Lauricella. The massive song is constantly changing time signatures, starting at 4/4 to 9/4 to 11/4 to 12/4 to 6/8, making it clear this body of work is musically more challenging than their previous single releases.
Hexaflexagon relies on its Egyptian influenced, macabre riff and lyrically takes its inspiration the first season of Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story, focusing on the relationship between the shows characters, Tate and Violet. Apart from the love story of the characters, the record as whole takes on the same trope, mixing together the horrors encountered in everyday life, with the monsters of folklore.
The records outlier is its lead single, Silica. Mostly instrumental, the track takes its inspiration from Radiohead’s acclaimed record In-Rainbows, conceptually the navigating anti-authoritarian feelings, wanting to break away from the expected outcomes of life. Complete with a strange and jazzy bass line, the experimental track crated a new soundscape for the band where they could run wild.
A Dream Out Of Hell and Red and Blue are the longest tracks on the release, and also two of its standouts. A Dream Out Of Hell creates a moment of breath on the fairly heavy record. Whereas Red and Blue picks up the pace and is just a damn good rock song.
The record as a whole is reminiscent of the 2017 sophomore album from The Pretty Reckless, Going To Hell. Both records share sonic similarities and take on darker concepts, using hell and halloween respectively as tools to comment on, and navigate the real horrors of life. The albums’ title tracks share similarities in the way they’re both built around heavy guitar riffs, and smokey vocals from Lauricella and The Pretty Reckless’ front woman, Taylor Momsen.
The experimental nature of the record allows the four-piece, made up of Lauricella, guitarist Dylan Rodgers, bassist Wade Miller-Duncan and drummer Caleb McKinnirey, to flex their musicianship skills. Implementing the use of aeolian scales was one way the band were able to successfully achieve creating a record that sonically embodied the scary nature of Halloween. Full of peaks and valleys, the record takes on a variety sonic and lyrical approaches to the themes present, creating a concept record that embodies all the fears and anxieties associated with horror.
Halloween Nights is out now! Watch our interview with the band below.