Gero and the Martyrs Post Debut Single “Offer of a Lifetime”
Underground denizens in Pittsburgh or out might recognize Gero von Dehn from his work in Zom — whose reach is by no means limited to their hometown; they’ve toured the UK and Iceland — and with Gero and the Martyrs, von Dehn steps not only beyond that “main project” but crosses genre lines as well into a kind of ’90s-informed alt-rock singer-songwriterism. The roots of what he’s doing remain heavy, but the initial single “Offer of a Lifetime” puts distortion on the backburner and feels traditionalist in bringing the vocals to the forefront, a classic modus for a project that obviously has designs on more complex fare.
I don’t know that it’s really a fit with what this site covers, but I do know that the notion of “a fit” in the first place is something made up in my head, and that good songs win ears regardless of the aesthetic veneer they might wear. You can hear for yourself as “Offer of a Lifetime” streams at the bottom of this post and von Dehn gives some background on his backing band and the project through the PR wire.
Goes like this:
Gero and the Martyrs announce new album and release first single.
Songwriter, vocalist and guitarist, Gero von Dehn, has taken a detour of sorts from his many rock n’ roll endeavors for this collection of songs that taps into an entirely new realm of musical territory.
In search of the best available talent to participate in this adventure, von Dehn collected some of the most skilled and accomplished musicians from a wide variety of backgrounds and styles.
After von Dehn entered the studio to track the acoustic guitars, his old friend and co-collaborator Andrew D’Cagna jumped onboard to engineer the record and perform percussion duties. D’Cagna is a wizard like multi-instrumentalist and recording engineer as well as a veteran of numerous acts across many genres.
Another familiar name was enlisted when von Dehn’s former bandmate, Alexander Fitz, agreed to handle bass duties. The uber talented and highly unique, finger picker worked tirelessly to not just hold down the low end but to add enormous flavor to each composition.
The final piece of the puzzle came only after an exhaustive search for just the right player. That arrived gloriously in the form of highly accomplished jazz guitarist, Matthew Charles Heulitt. With the chops to shine in almost any genre, Heulitt layered colors of electric guitar that lifted each song to gorgeous, emotional heights.
The songs that comprise this record were a deep emotional journey and each musician composed with absolute freedom to dig deep artistically and to collectively build this record into a magnificent painting of the many colors of the heart and soul.
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