The Horrors: London’s Burning

Prowling cobblestone streets, telling tales of murder with bloodcurdling screams

A A A Comments (0) By Siran Babayan Wednesday, Sep 23 2009

After giving his seal of approval on Twitter posts and online interviews, Trent Reznor contacted the Horrors’ management in hopes of having them open for Nine Inch Nails on the New York leg of their last-ever tour. “To be honest, they’re one of those bands that everybody knows about but a lot of people haven’t actually heard,” admits Rotter of the quintet’s own initial unfamiliarity with the industrial rockers (though an entire decade of fans would strongly disagree). “But whenever we’ve consistently worked with people, for example, Nick Zinner, or other people whose opinion we respect, they’ve always said Nine Inch Nails have really done some amazing stuff. And the brilliant thing about Trent specifically is that sort of dedication to exploring sounds and what you can do with instruments and creating an atmosphere.”

The critical praise and famous friends in their pocket have left the Horrors unsurprisingly unfazed. “When you put a lot of yourself into something and have it appreciated, it’s obviously affirming and spurs you on,” Rotter says. “But, ultimately people are so fickle, and it’s easy to take it with a pinch of salt. In fact, all the reviews for the first record, more or less, were positive. A lot of the reviews for the second album began with the disclaimer, ‘Forget everything you knew about the Horrors and their terrible first record.’ You just never take anyone’s opinion very seriously.”