Friday, July 19, 2013

BLACKLIST UNION: "Til Death Do Us Part"

Rating: RR
Label: HeadFirstEnt. 2013
Review by: Urban "Wally" Wallstrom

Blacklist Union's latest offering to the Gods of groovy metal reads 'Til Death Do Us Part'. Not the most original title but whatever. The music's modern but grungy edgy and thankfully not quite as predictable as most rock acts in the unholy year of 2013. L.A. GUNS' Tony West screams at ya' with the sophisticated swagger of a cat in heat. The guitars provided by Jon E Love (Love/Hate?) shriek and howl like a dog to the moon. And I believe there's a proper animal behind the drum-kit too.

According to several press statements, West's vocals often draw comparisons to a young Ozzy Osbourne? Are we listening to the same record? Sure, tiny bits and pieces of the prince of fookin' darkness, but just as much/little of the Bang Tango and Jane's Addiction. The songs themselves are raunchy/gritty without ever hitting the mark. Songs are written with Anthony Valli who people may remember as a member of Crazytown (the 'Butterfly' song , etc.), several members of Salvia are involved, and producer Chris Johnson (Goldfinger, Josh Todd, Hillary 'Fookin' Duff) at the controls. Tony West himself has appeared as the redneck white trash on The Jerry Springer Show, Maury Povich, Geraldo Rivera, The Riki Lake Show (twice), The Richard Bey Show, and some of these clips even made it onto the great Talk Soup. Geez... are we supposed to laugh or cry?

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