‘From Blue to Black’ is the third album by this Spanish quintet from Barcelona. They’ve been around for 8 years now and have received accolades for best Spanish upcoming band for their début album in 2011. Now the new album certainly doesn’t bring anything new to the table, however it is very well delivered and extremely energetic thrash with superb leads thrown in the mix.
‘From Blue to Black’ is the third album by this Spanish quintet from Barcelona. They’ve been around for 8 years now and have received accolades for best Spanish upcoming band for their début album in 2011. Now the new album certainly doesn’t bring anything new to the table, however it is very well delivered and extremely energetic thrash with superb leads thrown in the mix.
Opening track “Conspiranoia” takes very little time going from Javi Carrión’s simple drum fill over a choppy guitar rhythm to manic snare whacking accompanying the quickly changing guitar riffs as vocalist Julián Baz flicks between raspy to growly thrash vocals. Albert Requena and Marc Busqué “Busi” begin to trade leads as they plan to throughout every other song.
“Journey Through the Fire” has slightly higher pitched vocals giving them a more urgent feel as they sound much faster than those on “G.M.M. (The Great Metal Motherfucker)” with their more gruff delivery along with the heavier, even if slightly slower guitars, but the lead is still played at a blistering pace.
Using long sustained guitar riffs for the intro, “T-Terror Era” has the riffs shorten and speed up to give us a colourful depiction of James Cameron’s first huge hit, even ending the song with the distinctive drum beat.
The game arcade sound effects in “Psycho Crisix World” make way to choppy guitars with snappy snare rim shots for emphasis, but it’s the sweary chorus that shall probably have it shouted by everyone at live shows.
The title track “From Blue to Black” flows from frenzied to controlled staccato with plenty of punctuation by Dani Ramis as he pops the bass while the leads wind themselves into ever tightening tangles.
The fist pumping rhythm of “Strange” should get more than a few heads bobbing as shall the bass runs and low angry roars.
I’m pretty certain that everyone has a go at the vocals on “Five as One” as they are spat out in Spanish and English with a frenetic hardcore energy to match that of the music.
“Fallen” on the other hand has a pretty choral arrangement for ambience at the start which soon morphs into a lively song which becomes a slow gentle acoustic track before the end, winding down with the chorus chanted over a melancholy lead.
So, as I said earlier, while there may be nothing new here, the overall package is a fast crisp album with enough flair to keep it interesting and entertaining.
(7/10 Marco Gaminara)
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