Well, regardless of your geographic location, Brooklyn, New York’s up and coming resident Stoner-Rock band Blackout have begun to warm up this frozen side of the world in anticipation of their sophomore album being dropped into our laps on March 31, courtesy of Riding Easy Records. So while this release still has some time to thaw out before spring hits, I had the chance to rock it a number of times over the last few weeks, finding out that it oozes whiskey and beer; beckoning one to raid their roommates pot stash while being gripped in its overall tight, concussive bombardment of heaviness that is spread across it’s duration. A seven track, ear-pleasing ode to what matters most in this vast underground scene; making honest, attention-grabbing, downright damn good music.
Blackout finds themselves sandwiched between two lines, in my opinion. They have some pretty heavy moments, drawing comparisons to Sleep and the almighty Black Sabbath, but also have no qualms with laying down some serious mid-tempo thunder when need be, sort of in the vein of slower Torche, for lack of a better comparison. Blackout fuses these riff-heavy moments with experimental feedback noise along with mid-tempo beer chugging sections which causes the album to collide into a psychedelic melting pot of rock and metal, with superb results. Their newest offering is a barrage of speaker-destroying guitars and a rhythm section that implodes like a Las Vegas hotel being demolished, much to the delight of onlookers. While only a three piece, each member brings their A-game to the table on this one and the record itself encourages a sense that this is a band predestined to play together.
Label: Riding Easy Records
Release Date.March 30th
[ot-video][/ot-video]
As the album opens up with the always reliable use of feedback and fuzz, I was kind of anxious to finally hear what people had been talking about in regards to this band’s sound. Que guitar slides, a heavy, almost lurching bass and a simple, slow-paced beat. Finally, the introduction of twisted, spiraling out of control vocals, before they ultimately start throwing down thunder-filled riffs and laying waste to those who claim that they can endure a guitar amplifier that truly goes up to eleven. That being said, the opening track “Lost” made me relive a few late nights spent on the cold bathroom floor as the world started to spin around me, thanks to my lack of consideration for my liver’s well being. Which is meant as an absolute compliment to the sound that this band is going for. They have no qualms with dropping sonic hammers onto you over and over again, with no regard for those with a weak stomach. Even the songs “Nightmare” and “Cross” have a similar, vertigo-inducing sense. Each song on this self-titled release showcases the band swaying between these huge, colossal, Tony Iommi-inspired riffs and crashing back down into a slow-paced, noise-filled hangover without one hiccup in terms of their collective identity. Overall, the entire album seems pretty well fused together, and even with the break in between tracks, sounds like every song was placed in its perfect spot, with nothing sounding out of place. In fact, over the course of my initial digestion, I kept this album on repeat and often got lost in the maze of sound that they have concocted, which is yet another huge plus in my book. The final audio bong-hit on the record is the song “Human,” and this was the stand out piece for me. With a running time close to seven minutes, the song actually wraps up this record perfectly in terms of its overall sound and content. A final reminder of what this band does best and the fact that they absolutely mean it.
[ot-video][/ot-video]
Each song is carefully constructed to deliver maximum attitude and whiplash, without any of it coming off as pretentious or overdone. In terms of the “psychedelic aspect” of this group, it tends to be drawn more from vocalist Christan Gordys style, rather than their actual music. There is clearly some pedal/various effects applied to his voice, which adds an almost “Frank Black being pulled through a worm hole while drunkenly singing to the fading stars” feeling to it. In fact, while Blackout’s actual music is a damn heavy offering, it’s Gordys vocal style and lyrics that cause Blackout to stand out from the other bands that are riding what can often be a one trick pony genre. He alternates between some pretty harsh yelling to some more downplayed and weird, almost “mocking the listener” moments, without ever going overboard on either side. One can really appreciate his work, as it’s an absolutely fitting accompaniment to the music Blackout plays as a group, and in fact, makes this album that much more impressive.
While, as stated before, this album still has some time before it drops, I have a feeling in my gut that it’ll be turning some heads in and outside of the underground metal community due to the band’s sound – and the fact that Blackout seem to have an amazing sense of humor, judging by the album cover alone. This is a refreshing fact these days, when one is constantly assaulted with corpse paint and unreadable band logos. While Blackout have created a sound built upon the ideas of previous groups, it’s an awesome step forward for this genre and should be taken as such. While this is a stellar piece of music, I am more interested in what they’re going to follow this one up with. Just judging on the merits of this album, I’m expecting this band to make a number of crushing releases in the future. So come March 31, buy a case of Budweiser, invite some friends over and head bang along to this release till your downstairs neighbor calls the cops. It’ll be totally worth it in the long run.
