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Trollheart · 03-09-2014, 10:16 AM

When I look back I’m somewhat amazed to see that the last time I did this was back in October, during Metal Month. Admittedly, there were four instances during that special edition, but still, it’s been nearly five months now since we last went looking for a heavy metal band I could talk about and listen to, so it must be time to put on the leather-studded wristbands and dig out that old faded denim jacket once again, pretend I can ride a motorbike (it’s hell waiting on the 27A I can tell you!) and disappear off down the dark hot dusty roads in search of another metal band via the random function at Home - Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives

So, who’s up first? And not a player with the unlikely name of Who: I’m talking about the pronoun here. Right then, clickety-click, metal gods be good to me …

Well, interesting in that when I do a cursory gander around the internet I can find some of their songs, though to be honest this is not good news for me, as this is a black metal band from Norway: can there be any blacker? However I am unable to piece together a full album, so let me just grab what there is an throw it here for you. This is called “Capische”. I don’t, honestly. Just sounds like noise to me but anyway…

Another singer who sounds as if this should translate into “Get this fucking thorn out of my foot! It really hurts!” but surely doesn’t. Batlord probably loves this. Here’s another from them, called “Vergangenheit”. Slower, doomier, might not be that bad...
[youtube]aQv-u50DLFk[/youtube

]Yeah, you know, almost sort of melodic. Far different from “Capische”; the vocal is still a growly croak rising to a gutteral scream but you know, as some people here have advised me, if you either shut out the voice or consider it a musical instrument you can kind of get through this without blood coming out of your ears. Almost. Kind of Maiden influence in the guitars there. Interesting. One more? Sure why not. This is called “Tomorrow”, and is apparently from their farewell concert of 2005. Very interestingly starts off with a big synth intro, kind of proggy but also reminds me of Manowar’s “Gates of Valhalla”.

At least the stupid knobs in the audience closest to the person filming this have shut up now enough that we can hear the band on stage. Nice almost acoustic guitar coming in and the song for the moment sounds quite slow, but now of course it’s picking up tempo and our roaring friend is back. Still, not really half bad at all. I wonder what a full album from these guys would have been like? Oh well, time to shuffle on down the track…

That says “Blackout” in case you can’t figure out the logo, and they’re a stoner band from Brooklyn it says here, who have only been together since 2011 and released their first album last year. Wonder if it’ll be available? Woo-hoo! It is! Spotify has it. So these will be the guys then, good or bad, we’ll concentrate on.

OK then, points of interest, points of interest. Well, it’s noted that one of the band members has only one leg! Whether vocalist/guitarist Christian Gordy lost the other one in an accident, is a war veteran or was born without two legs I have no idea, and as this band are relatively new there is as per usual very little information about them. But it’s certainly a hook, even if it’s not meant to be one. Here’s how they line out:

Band name: Blackout
Nationality: American
Subgenre: Stoner metal
Born: 2011
Status: Active
Albums: “We are here” (2013)
Live albums: None
Collections/Boxed sets/Anthologies: None
Lineup Christian Gordy (Guitars, Vocals)
Taryn Waldman (Drums)
Justin Sherell (Bass, Vocals)

So they’re a three-piece, and I’m reliably informed their music moves at such a slow pace that doom seems positively breakneck by comparison. This could be something of a struggle for me. As I mentioned (I think I mentioned: did I mention?) they only have the one album, having been formed a mere two and a bit years now, and that debut came out last year.

We are here --- Blackout --- 2013 (Self-released)

There are only six tracks on the album and each has a single-word title. We open on “Indian”, with a screeching guitar that sounds like air brakes or something, then heavy almost tribal drumming from Taryn Waldman takes us into a nice catchy groove until suddenly it all comes to almost a dead stop as the crashing guitars of Christian Gordy pound in, his vocal more like something between a moan and a chant, the rhythm behind the music sort of lost now, almost as if everyone is doing their own thing. I’ve never quite seen a song begin so promisingly before to suddenly fall totally apart, and so quickly. It’s only just under five minutes long but sounds or seems much longer due to the complete lack of cohesion and ideas on the song. I fear this may be the beginning of something truly awful.

Grinding almost melodic guitar is encouraging though as “Amnesia” opens and Waldman’s percussion takes up the rhythm, Justin Sherrell’s bass holding the line nicely, and even when Gordy’s more recognisable vocal comes in this time it’s keeping a little more with the music being played. It’s not much better to be honest but it does hang together a little better. Sort of Sabbath feel to it, though nowhere near as good. Waldman may be able to hold a beat but she’s no great drummer; I don’t hear any finesse or style in her performance, and though I’ve already admitted I wouldn’t know a good drummer from a bad one, well let’s just say she’s no Cozy Powell or Keith Moon!

That hard grinding screeching guitar is back for the superslow “Smoker”, so slow you can count the individual notes and even the spaces in between them. Gordy’s vocal is kind of phased or something, but even the effects can’t disguise that he’s at best a very average singer. I would say he should concentrate on playing the guitar, but he’s a very average guitarist too. Sadly, the same goes for his bandmates, and I’m not hearing anything at all that’s interesting or even holding my attention here. Well, the guitar just got a bit faster and almost boogie-ish, so that in itself is something. I mean, I don’t know stoner metal that well, but I’ve heard Stormbringer and Doomsword and they are miles, light years, ahead of these guys who are really coming across to me as total amateurs. And amateurs who suck into the bargain.

(This is the only --- I mean only --- video I could get of this band. The quality is crap, but then, so is the music…)

There’s a decent little groove set up in the last minute or so, but nothing about this track, or the two that have gone before it, is likely to remain in my head once this review is over. I seriously doubt, unless there is a major seachange in the second half of the album, that anything following them will do anything different. “Columbus” and “Anchor” are short tracks, each just shading the four minute mark, the former seeming to consist of Gordy bashing the hell out of his guitar while Sherrell copies him, a real melange of noise with no real target or purpose and not too much in the way of vocals, but when they come again they’re phased for some reason. The latter seems to try to emulate the quintessential Sabbath track, their signature tune, but fails miserably as this band keep coming up against the same staggering lack of talent. At this point I’m not looking forward to the closer, as it’s easily the longest on the album, coming in at a worrying nine minutes plus.

Confusingly titled “Seven”, it’s another slow grinder which does little or nothing to distinguish it from the five tracks that have preceded it, and although the longest it doesn't do anything to convince me that this band is worth another try. I don’t see them getting a second album out but given this is self-released maybe there’s nothing to stop them. However I’d be surprised if they got signed any time soon by any of the major or even minor labels.

“We are here”? Yeah, well you can stay there as far as I’m concerned!

TRACKLISTING

1. Indian
2. Amnesia
3. Smoker
4. Columbus
5. Anchor
6. Seven

Well at least I didn’t have to search four or five times to get a band I could actually review, though after listening to this substandard dross I wish I’d just opened the throttle and kept ridin -- I mean, stayed on the bus till the next stop. Yeah, single to the city centre please mate: think I need to do some serious drinking. Not, I did not mean thinking…

03-09-2014, 10:16 AM	#2144 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	When I look back I’m somewhat amazed to see that the last time I did this was back in October, during Metal Month. Admittedly, there were four instances during that special edition, but still, it’s been nearly five months now since we last went looking for a heavy metal band I could talk about and listen to, so it must be time to put on the leather-studded wristbands and dig out that old faded denim jacket once again, pretend I can ride a motorbike (it’s hell waiting on the 27A I can tell you!) and disappear off down the dark hot dusty roads in search of another metal band via the random function at Home - Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives So, who’s up first? And not a player with the unlikely name of Who: I’m talking about the pronoun here. Right then, clickety-click, metal gods be good to me … Well, interesting in that when I do a cursory gander around the internet I can find some of their songs, though to be honest this is not good news for me, as this is a black metal band from Norway: can there be any blacker? However I am unable to piece together a full album, so let me just grab what there is an throw it here for you. This is called “Capische”. I don’t, honestly. Just sounds like noise to me but anyway… Another singer who sounds as if this should translate into “Get this fucking thorn out of my foot! It really hurts!” but surely doesn’t. Batlord probably loves this. Here’s another from them, called “Vergangenheit”. Slower, doomier, might not be that bad... [youtube]aQv-u50DLFk[/youtube ]Yeah, you know, almost sort of melodic. Far different from “Capische”; the vocal is still a growly croak rising to a gutteral scream but you know, as some people here have advised me, if you either shut out the voice or consider it a musical instrument you can kind of get through this without blood coming out of your ears. Almost. Kind of Maiden influence in the guitars there. Interesting. One more? Sure why not. This is called “Tomorrow”, and is apparently from their farewell concert of 2005. Very interestingly starts off with a big synth intro, kind of proggy but also reminds me of Manowar’s “Gates of Valhalla”. At least the stupid knobs in the audience closest to the person filming this have shut up now enough that we can hear the band on stage. Nice almost acoustic guitar coming in and the song for the moment sounds quite slow, but now of course it’s picking up tempo and our roaring friend is back. Still, not really half bad at all. I wonder what a full album from these guys would have been like? Oh well, time to shuffle on down the track… That says “Blackout” in case you can’t figure out the logo, and they’re a stoner band from Brooklyn it says here, who have only been together since 2011 and released their first album last year. Wonder if it’ll be available? Woo-hoo! It is! Spotify has it. So these will be the guys then, good or bad, we’ll concentrate on. OK then, points of interest, points of interest. Well, it’s noted that one of the band members has only one leg! Whether vocalist/guitarist Christian Gordy lost the other one in an accident, is a war veteran or was born without two legs I have no idea, and as this band are relatively new there is as per usual very little information about them. But it’s certainly a hook, even if it’s not meant to be one. Here’s how they line out: Band name: Blackout Nationality: American Subgenre: Stoner metal Born: 2011 Status: Active Albums: “We are here” (2013) Live albums: None Collections/Boxed sets/Anthologies: None Lineup Christian Gordy (Guitars, Vocals) Taryn Waldman (Drums) Justin Sherell (Bass, Vocals) So they’re a three-piece, and I’m reliably informed their music moves at such a slow pace that doom seems positively breakneck by comparison. This could be something of a struggle for me. As I mentioned (I think I mentioned: did I mention?) they only have the one album, having been formed a mere two and a bit years now, and that debut came out last year. We are here --- Blackout --- 2013 (Self-released) There are only six tracks on the album and each has a single-word title. We open on “Indian”, with a screeching guitar that sounds like air brakes or something, then heavy almost tribal drumming from Taryn Waldman takes us into a nice catchy groove until suddenly it all comes to almost a dead stop as the crashing guitars of Christian Gordy pound in, his vocal more like something between a moan and a chant, the rhythm behind the music sort of lost now, almost as if everyone is doing their own thing. I’ve never quite seen a song begin so promisingly before to suddenly fall totally apart, and so quickly. It’s only just under five minutes long but sounds or seems much longer due to the complete lack of cohesion and ideas on the song. I fear this may be the beginning of something truly awful. Grinding almost melodic guitar is encouraging though as “Amnesia” opens and Waldman’s percussion takes up the rhythm, Justin Sherrell’s bass holding the line nicely, and even when Gordy’s more recognisable vocal comes in this time it’s keeping a little more with the music being played. It’s not much better to be honest but it does hang together a little better. Sort of Sabbath feel to it, though nowhere near as good. Waldman may be able to hold a beat but she’s no great drummer; I don’t hear any finesse or style in her performance, and though I’ve already admitted I wouldn’t know a good drummer from a bad one, well let’s just say she’s no Cozy Powell or Keith Moon! That hard grinding screeching guitar is back for the superslow “Smoker”, so slow you can count the individual notes and even the spaces in between them. Gordy’s vocal is kind of phased or something, but even the effects can’t disguise that he’s at best a very average singer. I would say he should concentrate on playing the guitar, but he’s a very average guitarist too. Sadly, the same goes for his bandmates, and I’m not hearing anything at all that’s interesting or even holding my attention here. Well, the guitar just got a bit faster and almost boogie-ish, so that in itself is something. I mean, I don’t know stoner metal that well, but I’ve heard Stormbringer and Doomsword and they are miles, light years, ahead of these guys who are really coming across to me as total amateurs. And amateurs who suck into the bargain. (This is the only --- I mean only --- video I could get of this band. The quality is crap, but then, so is the music…) There’s a decent little groove set up in the last minute or so, but nothing about this track, or the two that have gone before it, is likely to remain in my head once this review is over. I seriously doubt, unless there is a major seachange in the second half of the album, that anything following them will do anything different. “Columbus” and “Anchor” are short tracks, each just shading the four minute mark, the former seeming to consist of Gordy bashing the hell out of his guitar while Sherrell copies him, a real melange of noise with no real target or purpose and not too much in the way of vocals, but when they come again they’re phased for some reason. The latter seems to try to emulate the quintessential Sabbath track, their signature tune, but fails miserably as this band keep coming up against the same staggering lack of talent. At this point I’m not looking forward to the closer, as it’s easily the longest on the album, coming in at a worrying nine minutes plus. Confusingly titled “Seven”, it’s another slow grinder which does little or nothing to distinguish it from the five tracks that have preceded it, and although the longest it doesn't do anything to convince me that this band is worth another try. I don’t see them getting a second album out but given this is self-released maybe there’s nothing to stop them. However I’d be surprised if they got signed any time soon by any of the major or even minor labels. “We are here”? Yeah, well you can stay there as far as I’m concerned! TRACKLISTING 1. Indian 2. Amnesia 3. Smoker 4. Columbus 5. Anchor 6. Seven Well at least I didn’t have to search four or five times to get a band I could actually review, though after listening to this substandard dross I wish I’d just opened the throttle and kept ridin -- I mean, stayed on the bus till the next stop. Yeah, single to the city centre please mate: think I need to do some serious drinking. Not, I did not mean thinking… __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 03-09-2014 at 10:54 AM.