Portland goth metal quartet Unto Others (the band formerly known as Idle Hands) are offering up a special treat for the spooky season. Halloween is like the spiritual holiday for metal bands and Unto Others are celebrating with a limited edition single, I Believe in Halloween, that’s being issued on cassette and 7″ via the band’s own Lone Fir Records, under exclusive license from Roadrunner. The two-track single will feature the songs “Out in the Graveyard” and “Dalmatian.”
Vocalist/guitarist Gabe Franco gave Decibel the lowdown on how the single came about, and what inspired the two tracks.
“I’ve been sitting on the idea of a halloween 7″ for a couple years now. I wanted to do this back in 2019, actually, as I already had “Out In The Graveyard” written, but there was simply not enough time for it to materialize. These songs were considered for Strength [released on Roadrunner last month], but the record was already crowded and I felt they needed their own platform. I jumped at the chance to finally do a Halloween release.
“The title of the single, I Believe in Halloween, alludes to imagination. For Halloween, that means death and fear, both of which only hold power if you believe in them. So you have two horror stories. In “Out In The Graveyard” a young man dances with death during an unfortunate walk through the local cemetery. On “Dalmatian,” man’s best friend is not all that he seems; a young boy hears whispers from his loyal companion, pushing us to ask ourselves, who is the servant, and who is the master? Listener beware…”
As a thank you to fans, the songs will be available as a free/pay what you want exclusive on the band’s Bandcamp page for 10 days starting October 21 and going through Halloween. The songs will not be available on any other DSP. The physical versions of the single will be available for pre-order on two formats. Cassettes will be limited to a run of 300 in the USA and 300 in Europe, and the 7″ vinyl will be issued in translucent orange (500 copies) and black (500 copies) in the US and Europe.
Have a listen here:
