This band flew under radar for me until this year. Finnish blackened heavy metal duo Black Rock, who formed in 2012, already have three full length albums out. The third one, 'Arcane Remorseless' is under inspection here.

Primal and basic are two adjectives that immediately come to mind when hearing Black Rock. Think about legendary Hellhammer and Venom, and strip it to even more plain approach. Vocals, guitar and drums, that's it. Guitar that sounds like a bass guitar, or other way around. I also could name Necromantia here, due to soundscape, but BR are way more direct in their ways.

The opener 'War That Ends All' is basically one riff repeated and slightly altered throughout the song, as well as the drumming patterns. I have to say that the guitar solo surprised me... Anyway, the song structure is droning but not that catchy or something like exceptional. It just is. Finally, on the third song 'Silenced Screams', the duo dare, or thought about branching out a bit. Not much, but yeah, a motherfucking tad. On 1:50 mark, they throw out the most basic of the basic rock riffs ever. Talking about riffs, and generally guitars, they may be gritty but I find they are just no frills; do not expect but very basic things to happen.

The drumming is, at times, more shifty, at least. The pace varies from slow-ish to fast, and I find BR working best on slower tempos, because there's somewhat more forbidding vibes going on during them times. but generally, this isn't nefarious nor savage; it doesn't live up to its name. The vocals are croaked and have big echo in them, but are conceivable. Apocalyptic lyrics are the best thing here. Alas, the music simply does not match them.

The biggest problem I find here is the powerless sound. It doesn't sound much different to a cassette recorder recording, even more like a straight live take more than a 4-track recording. It's not absolute mess, though. But it certainly does not contain any lower end to speak of. Simple as heck, and no thrills happening anywhere during the album's 33 minutes.

I'm really not entertained, to tell the truth. While same (-ish) stuff is repeated in a songs, and songs, it does not reach me. I'm not banging my head like I feel I should. Less is more? Nah, not in this case it isn't. It's no news that every rock or metal riff is probably already done, and this is a fucking testament of it.

Rating: 4- (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
09/28/2019 14:00