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It's entirely possible that local band The Revengencers has created their own, double-labeled music genre: deathwestern and country doom.

But those who head to the Rendezvous on Halloween night expecting hardcore covers of Hank Williams and Patsy Cline will hear something else entirely. The Revengencers play original tunes in a style that guitar player Nick Parmentier describes as gritty rock.

"The way we play sounds more like dirty rock 'n' roll with metal overtones," he said.

The deathwestern/country doom description, which Parmentier said originated with bass player Marcus Beckmann, comes in part from the fact that, according to the band, there's a honky-tonk or country-western quality to the vocals. Lead singer Tim Ewing is a fan of old country music.

"If you listen to old country, it's super raw." Parmentier said. "It's about death and suicide. Tim likes that and I think it plays out in how he sings," he said.

The average listener may be hard-pressed to hear any country-western nuances, however. Heavy, fast-paced guitars and distorted vocals meld in a "wall of sound" in which the band members' appreciation for punk and metal is clearly represented.

"I don't know where (our sound) comes from," he said. "We never sat down and said 'We want to sound like this,' it's just the common ground we have."

All four members have played in other local bands. Parmentier was in the punk band What Remains, Beckmann played bass in black-metal band Old Goat, and vocalist Ewing and drummer Jason Messing were in the hardcore band the Shoe Whores. The four got together casually after those bands dissolved - or, in the case of What Remains, relocated to Portland.

Like Old Goat, whose sinister, theatrical performances were often scheduled for the dark end of October, The Revengencers seem a fitting band to play Halloween. For one thing, the intensity of their sound tends to scare some audiences, little children in particular. Parmentier, a fifth-grade teacher at Riverbend Elementary, said that though his students found the music he played with What Remains fairly accessible, they don't really get his new stuff.

"(They say) 'Mr. Parmentier, this is really scary. And I can't understand a word he's singing.'"

For another thing, the name of the band comes from the late-night animated TV show "Metalocalypse" about a violent heavy-metal band called Dethklok. (The Revengencers are a rival band). The show was described by one reviewer as "a hilariously over-the-top bloodbath, animated in the baroquely detailed style of death-metal cover art, right down to the lovingly rendered exploding organs and shredded bodies."

But it isn't the band's intention to scare people off.

"We're not trying to be frightening, we just love turning our instruments up loud and making a lot of noise." he said.

The band has played just three local gigs so far, beginning with a show at the Canvas in June, followed by two performances in September, one at the Hangar Ballroom and one at the Imperial. For a new band, they've generated quite a buzz, spreading the word about their shows through distinctive posters designed by Beckmann that borrow and alter images from Clint Eastwood movie artwork.

"We've got a theme going because now when people see the poster they know it's us," Parmentier said.

The band has written about 15 songs so far, he said, with all members participating in a songwriting process that typically takes place as part of a loose creative dialogue during practice.

"It's the first band I've ever been in where we come to practice and don't have anything written," he said. "We start playing around until we find something we like and then try to put it together."

"Somehow, it always ends up working out, there's a starting riff that we come up with and go from there."

The experimental aspect continues as the songs are fleshed out, he said, as the structure isn't usually traditional or predictable. The band likes to keep people guessing as to what's going to come next.

They also don't seem to mind if people are left guessing as to what Ewing is singing about. Ewing writes the lyrics, and when performing often uses a pitch shifter or other form of distortion to give his vocals a distinctive sound.

"He almost sounds like a psychotic auctioneer at times, like he's singing through a bullhorn," Parmentier said.

But good luck trying to decipher the actual words.

"To be honest, I have no idea what he is saying," he said.

• Contact Arts & Culture editor Amy Fletcher at amy.fletcher@juneauempire.com or 523-2283.

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