Cincinnati's Reaper on Red Refines Its Dark Wave Sound on New Album

Reaper on Red. Credit: Courtesy of Reaper on Red

About 20 years ago, Robert and Carla Cherry, the husband-and-wife who currently play together in the indie act Reaper on Red, recorded a tune named “Zodiac Lights.” Reaper on Red had not yet formally formed, and the tune went onto a hard drive with a slew of other tunes.

Then, about four years ago, Robert had a dream about the song. He woke up and sifted through the various tracks until he found it. When Carla heard him play the tune, she was so impressed, she asked, “Is that really us?”

At that moment, they became inspired to form Reaper on Red. They recorded another handful of tracks that became their debut LP, Zodiac Lights.

“We had been playing in bands with other people, and those things were coming to an end or slowing down,” says Carla in a recent Zoom call with Robert at her side. Reaper on Red performs at 8 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 8, at the Beachland Tavern in what will be a homecoming show for the duo (they called Cleveland home in the early 2000s when Robert was the editor at Alternative Press). Poem Rocket and the Elder Goths open. “We appreciated the fact that we could create art together in our house and not have to rely on other people.”

While they recorded Zodiac Lights at their home studio, they enlisted the help of a few of their musical friends before releasing it. Mike Montgomery, who’s based in Dayton, KY just across the river from Cincinnati, added his touch to the project by mixing and mastering it at his Candyland Recording.

“We didn’t know if it was the demo or the finished thing when we were done, but we didn’t think it would be improved by a live or a ‘real’ studio,” says Robert. “We liked the raw nature of what we were doing and the analog syths. For mixing and mastering, there is Mike Montgomery, who has worked with the Breeders. He has got great facility with the tools but more of a perspective of a guy who grew up with Dischord and SST Records. He’s a big fan of Dinosaur Jr. So as we delved into an arty space, he helped us retain that rock sound.”

Much like Bauhaus’s Peter Murphy or Sister of Mercy’s Andrew Eldritch, Robert sings in a deep voice that evokes the great Goth singers, and the fractured synths and melodic bass riffs give the Dark Wave/electronica songs incredible texture.

“We have some different influences, but [Reaper on Red] represents the intersection where all of our tastes combine,” says Carla. “We’re on the same page a lot of the time with our musical taste and how we want the band to sound. That’s nice because I totally believe that collaboration makes things better, but when you get too many influences, they muddy your intent. We have a defined purpose.”

Robert says the new album, Doom Daze, polishes, refines and expands upon the approach the band took on Zodiac Lights.

“The first album came together really quick,” he says. “We wanted to retain the sound and sensibility but refine what we identify with our sound. We got a nice review for the first album, which inspired us. Electronic Sound gave us a nice review and defined it as if John Carpenter and Moe Tucker had joined Sisters of Mercy. We couldn’t have put it better ourselves.”.

The band recruited Patrick Miller, who lives in Hudson, and collaborated with him on two full-length videos, which feature some of the same projections used in the live setting (the projections are triggered by the music.)

“The videos we use in the live show work in real time with the music we play,” says Robert. “We broke the rule of feeling like we need an organic band. We have some programmed beats and atmospherics on backing tracks. We play guitar and bass and we’ve up-scaled it to bigger theaters, and it works well there too.”