Los Angeles post-punk band THE SWEET KILL, helmed by Pete Mills, stands as a gothic-rock tour-de-force, a dark presence in a world of cold wave synths and brooding guitars. Spawned to be a beacon for those lost in the shadows of life, Mills guides listeners with his smooth baritone voice through a sonic terrain stretching over wind-swept moors and past crumbling Gothic ruins. THE SWEET KILL delves deep into the darker chambers of the soul, where despair and longing collide. His voice, like a haunting refrain, pulls at the heartstrings, evoking the desolate beauty of a long-lost romantic era echoing the laments of London After Midnight, Sisters of Mercy and Joy Division.
Shadow Zone Sound, Mills’ own recording sanctuary, is a vessel for exploring the darker edges of the human condition—where every note, every lyric, searches for meaning in the spaces between life and the infinite unknown. Both Darkness (2023) and Nowhere (2024), released on Germany’s Young & Cold Records, bear this unmistakable mark. Mills muses, “Nowhere questions the final analysis of the soul’s journey between life and death, are we eternally drifting in the ether or, are we never lost and always found?”
Blood Red Roses, released on Shadow Zone Records, ushers in the autumn season, its themes as chilling and bittersweet as fall itself. Hinting at a new album waiting in the wings for 2025, Mills promising more reflections on love, loss, and the fleeting nature of existence.
