The New Black II: Better in Black
by Mark Allen
Staff Writer
The biblical book of Ecclesiastes contains the famous phrase “there is nothing new under the sun,” a perceptively sage declaration that readily applies to the realm of hard rock. Certainly this sophomore album from The New Black brings nothing new to the table; we’ve heard this metallic heavy rock sound many times before. Thankfully, what this German band lacks in the freshness department, they compensate for by simply cranking everything up to the max and throwing down some unpretentious, full-throttle, ass-kicking hard rock.
The New Black have toured with Black Label Society and either through happenstance or osmosis, their sound is very similar, so anyone hungry for Godzilla-size guitars with the occasional southern-metal groove is going to find this album to be a veritable banquet of heavy riffs. In fact, the riffs are relentless; they simply never let up, nor will you want them to, because these riffs are everything you want riffs to be, guaranteed to get your skull slamming in full metal-approved style. The guitars themselves are gargantuan, a tightly-choreographed twin attack that is layered and harmonized to create a thick, crunchy wall of aggressive sound influenced by the likes of Zakk Wylde or Herman Frank.
There is a timeless, classic quality to this kind of American heavy rock sound. The New Black care about the flavor of the week about as much as the Pope cares about the latest issue of Playboy. This is a no bullshit band with zero commercial pretensions; hell, they don’t even bother crafting catchy choruses (which, frankly, is to their detriment). That’s not to say the choruses aren’t there—they are definitely present and accounted for—but they lack the super-sized sing-along hooks and instant accessibility that mainstream audiences demand. Whether or not this is an issue will depend entirely on your personal hard rock proclivities. Most listeners will probably be too busy head-banging to even notice.
Vocalist Markus Hammer will not go down in history as one of the greatest singers of our time, but he’s satisfactorily serviceable. He comes across as Zakk Wylde crossed with Chad Kroeger juxtaposed with some James Hetfield inflections and cross-pollinated with some hints of Phil Anselmo, but not quite as good as any of them. In other words, he has one of those “everyman” rock voices.
He is backed by a powerhouse pack of professional musicians who do not showboat or engage in musical masturbation with their instruments to prove their technical prowess, but instead are content to simply blast out some in-your-face hard rock at maximum volume. Yes, there are melodies and solos and shredding and all the goodies that generally come with the genre, but they exist to serve the primary goal, which is pure metal power that rocks your face off.
In summary, the ripping guitars riffs are the main reason to pick up this release. Fans of Black Label Society definitely need to check this out, along with fans of Pantera and Texas Hippie Coalition as well as lesser known bands like Moon’Doc and Sledgehammer Ledge. Sure, there is room for improvement (choruses, vocals), but Better in Black is still better than a lot of what you’ve heard lately.
Genre: Hard rock/metal
Band:
Markus Hammer (vocals)
Fabian Schwarz (guitars)
Christof Leim (guitars)
Guenter Auschrat (bass)
Chris Weiss (drums)
Track Listing:
1. Better in Black
2. The King I Was
3. Batteries & Rust
4. Downgrade
5. Into Modesty
6. Altar Boys
7. Happy Zombies
8. My Favorite Disease
9. Fading Me Out
10. When It All Ends
11. Last Chance to Throw Dirt
12. Sun Cries Moon
Label: AFM Records
Online: www.myspace.com/thenewblackofficial
Hardrock Haven rating: 7.6/10