Shining Black - Boals & Thorsen: Postcards From The End Of The World

Shining Black`s music is described as Melodic Metal as opposed to Melodic Rock..These damn subgenres just complicate matters don’t they??!!, but it’s evident that Melodic Metal is a perfectly adequate way to describe their style.

This is the second album from Boals and Thorson and is very similar in nature to their (in the main) impressive debut album that surfaced in 2020.

The opener, which is also the title track sets out the bands modus operandi, and the album doesn’t really veer very far from there, which did unfortunately find me at times holding out for something slightly different from the band. That’s not to say that the material is in any way poor, it’s just that I personally was looking for the band to spread their wings a little more and use their template of Melodic Metal to possibly expand their musical horizons.

`We Are Death Angels`, `Summer Solstice Under Delphi`s Sky` are both impressive tunes, but by the time I`d got to the likes of `Mirror Of Time` and `Fear and Loathing` I was yearning for the band to just try something a little different. The performances throughout are undoubtedly impressive, Boals vocals at times reminding me of the Scorpions front man Klaus Meine, and the guitars are suitably cranked up with the keys playing the part of the counterpoint to the main melody, and the production is big and bombastic which again suits the material.

I may be coming across as slightly harsh on the band, but from a personal point of view I was looking for the band to demonstrate some progression from what I said earlier about their debut release.

I’ll be interested to see how the band move on from this album as they are without doubt a formidable force together, but I`m sure that fans of the band will lap this up with their usual enthusiasm.

Track Listing
1.Postcards From The End Of The World
2.Higher Than The World
3.We Are Death Angels
4.Summer Solstice Under Delphi's Sky
5.Like Leaves In November
6.A Hundred Thousand Shades Of Black
7.Faded Pictures Of Me
8.Mirror Of Time
9.Fear And Loathing
10.Time Heals, They Say

Added: May 4th 2022
Reviewer: Malcolm Smith
Score:
Related Link: Band Facebook Page
Hits: 826
Language: english

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