I first heard about Brooklyn’s O’Death through an old friend of mine who shared my fascination with a certain obscure, and since deceased, band out of Denton, Texas, otherwise known as Lift to Experience (who released one album, which — I’d argue — was one of the greatest concept albums of our time). Not that the two bands sound anything alike — far from it, in fact. I suppose the connection he was trying to make between the two was the dark, Southern-gothic, religious (or spiritual, what-have-you) undertones that seep beneath the dissonance of both their distinctive sounds.

All the same, I just remember him saying that “the best way to listen to O’Death is with your headphones on while reading William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying by candlelight.” And that is exactly what I did.

Not that I’m recommending my music listening practices to any of you. But I will say this: O’Death is not really a band. There are more than enough bands out there to listen to. O’Death is something entirely different than just a band you’d browse by on MySpace. The way I see it, O’Death is more of a musical complement to the horrific, tragic mysteries that have and will always haunt the dark shadows behind every shining light of the American experience.

I have yet to hear their latest album, Broken Limbs, Hymns, and Skin (due out on October 28^th by Kemado Records), but the leaks are claiming this one “sounds morose or contemplative, but underneath the melancholy is a gospel fervor — bashed from paint buckets, banjos, guitars, and anything else in kicking distance — that defines their sound.” It’s that “gospel fervor” that I was alluding to earlier. I suppose it’s that fervor that breathes through their music, giving you the same chill you feel while watching the black silhouettes of tangled, crooked, leafless branches dancing in the cold wind when fall turns to winter, or the disturbing superstition you try to ignore should you ever spy a crow perched on a gravestone on a cold, gray evening.

Yeah, O’Death is one band worth investing an evening in, if, like myself, you’ve ever fancied the thought of what it might sound like if Edgar Allan Poe had ever found enough kindred, tortured spirits to start a band.

O’Death Fall Tour Dates

October 30th – Music Hall of Williamsburg – Brooklyn, New York (with Hoots and Hellmouth, La Strada)

October 31st – Johnny Brenda’s – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

November 1st – Johnny Brenda’s – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

November 2nd – T.T. The Bears – Cambridge, Massachusetts

November 3rd – II Motore – Montreal, Quebec, Canada

November 4th – El Mocambo – Toronto, Ontario, Canada

November 5th – Mohawk Place – Buffalo, New York

November 6th – Beachland Ballroom – Cleveland, Ohio

November 7th – Jakes Nightclub – Bloomington, Indiana

November 8th – Empty Bottle – Chicago, Illinois

November 9th – Hideout – Chicago, Illinois

November 10th – 7th Street Entry – Minneapolis, Minnesota

November 11th – The Picador – Iowa City, Iowa

November 12th – The Jackpot Saloon – Lawrence, Kansas

November 13th – Waiting Room – Omaha, Nebraska

November 14th – Larimer Lounge – Denver, Colorado

November 15th – Urban Lounge – Salt Lake City, Utah

November 17th – Media Club – Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

November 18th – High Dive – Seattle, Washington

November 19th – Doug Fir Lounge – Portland, Oregon

November 20th – Jambalaya – Arcata, California

November 21st – Bottom of the Hill – San Francisco, California

November 22nd – Spaceland – Los Angeles, California

November 23rd – Casbah – San Diego, California

November 24th – Modified Arts – Phoenix, Arizona

November 26th – The Mohawk – Austin, Texas

November 28th – Marquee – Tulsa, Oklahoma

November 29th – Off Broadway – St. Louis, Missouri

November 30th – Hi-Tone Café – Memphis, Tennessee

December 2nd – The Earl – Atlanta, Georgia

December 3rd – Local 506 – Chapel Hill, North Carolina

December 4th – Black Cat Backstage – Washington, District of Columbia

December 5th – Bowery Ballroom – New York, New York (with Titus Andonicus, Wye Oak)