Metallic hardcore outfit Burnt By The Sun fizzled out in style with 2009’s Heart Of Darkness, a swansong that melded the styles with more soulful might than most. Having spent the last few years having good, thrashing fun in Municipal Waste, guitarist John Adubato and drummer David Witte pick up where they left off with new outfit River Black, bringing vocalist Mike Olender back for the ride. The formula is largely unchanged. Apoplectic riffing is the main event, barrelling you over on Jaws, which is the perfect companion for the dry bark of Mike, who back in the day had a Bush administration upon whom to direct his invective, returning to an even more fucked-up situation. Songs are to the point, ceaseless in their apoplectic turmoil as they buck and writhe along muscular paths, from the outright headbanging righteousness of Low to the barely contained, predatory chug of Shipwreck. For those who mourned Burnt By The Sun this is the record you’ve been waiting for; for newcomers, this is how it’s done.
River Black - River Black album review
Burnt By The Sun members shine a harsh light once more
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