Fahrenheit 451

The East Coast goth rock outfit Fahrenheit 451 took its name from Ray Bradbury’s celebrated novel. Its range of influences stretched from the Doors and the Stranglers to Bauhaus, the foundational act whose stature within goth paralleled that of Charlie Parker in bebop or James Brown in funk. Although formed in New Jersey in 1984, the band never reached the visibility of Bauhaus or Sisters of Mercy and instead sustained a modest cult audience concentrated along the Northeastern Corridor. Throughout its three-year span, personnel rotated repeatedly, the most prominent contributors being lead vocalist Athan Maroulis, guitarist Shell Stewart, bassist Pete Lisa, keyboardist Nick Ferro, and drummer Ed Enzyme. Active Records released the group’s first EP, House of Morals, in 1986. A second EP, A Fire in the Garden, was recorded yet remained unreleased until Cleopatra issued the Fahrenheit-focused anthology The Gothic Years and After in 2000. The band dissolved in 1987, after which its members pursued separate projects: Enzyme entered the Undead, Lisa joined Cycle Sluts From Hell, and Stewart aligned with the Lucifer Scale. Maroulis stayed especially prolific, fronting Philadelphia-based Executive Slacks from 1987 to 1991 and the little-known Tubalcain from 1992 to 1994; while still active in Tubalcain he also became a member of Spahn Ranch in 1992, an ensemble that continued performing into 2001. That same year Maroulis launched the Blue Dahlia, whose romantic, 1940s-oriented jazz-pop marked a decisive break from his earlier work. Listeners accustomed to his goth, industrial, and darkwave output were agreeably surprised by his effectiveness as a polished, urbane crooner who expressed clear admiration for Frank Sinatra and Billy Eckstine. Maroulis and Stewart briefly reconvened in the studio during 1996 to record covers of Mission and Bauhaus songs and momentarily revived the Fahrenheit 451 name. Cleopatra’s The Gothic Years and After compiles the band’s 1984–1987 recordings together with its 1996 material.