BLACK CLOUD HALO - Born Under A Bad Sign |
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Black Cloud Halo is a Rotterdam based band with a pure hardcore background that presents on its first full-length album Born Under A Bad Sign a surprisingly varied side of the band. At first I didn’t exactly know what to think of this record as there was no label which I could tag on the music. Their hardcore roots are still present on Born Under A Bad Sign, but they added many more elements, from rock to hardcore, from metal to blues, in a way to make this the hardest rocking hardcore I’ve ever been listening to. Imagine a confrontation between more hardcore based acts like Agnostic Front or Out For Blood and more Seventies based rockers like Rose Tattoo, Alabama Thunder Pussy, Fu Manchu and Motörhead. Even some heavy metal riffs found their way on this record. It’s astonishing how Black Cloud Halo combine melody with pure heaviness and speed, but they also know how to slow down the tempo to blow you away with devastating slow monster riffs. Most tracks are built upon simple hardcore chords and you shouldn’t expect too complex song structures which in fact aren’t necessary in the face of the intensity of their music. A few calmer songs surprise with blues passages and even contain guitar parts reminding me of Thin Lizzy. There’s no fixed style to describe Black Cloud Halo. They simply play excellent rock music with enough testosterone filled balls that should have the potential to entertain a vast array of hard rock and hardcore fans alike. Which is how crossover should sound today! |