Black Tide “Post Moterm” Album Review by Rockstar Radio™ It’s Time To Grow Up…
I’ll let you be my shadow
I’ll let you go the distance
So the world can see you’re a fuckin joke -Black Tide, “Walking Dead Man”
That chorus is what hooked me back into Black Tide. Hailing from Miami, these young rockers blew up on the scene back in 2007 with their album “Light From Above”. At that time most of the band were teenagers, and hadn’t even graduated high school. In 2008 they hit the road on the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival, and were moved from the Jagermeister stage because the band was to young to play on an alcohol sponsored stage. To say the least, these boys were thrown in the deep end right away, and they swam their asses off!
The band cites many influences from 80′s rock acts like, Guns N’ Roses, Motley Crue, Iron Maiden and more. Thats one thing that drew me into Black Tide right away. A young band with musical inspiration from a generation they weren’t even around for. The term “respect your elders” is more relevant in rock music, than in any other industry.
With “Light From Above” it was obvious Black Tide was raw, but very talented. Many of the songs came from what they knew, which isn’t much when you are sixteen years old. Fast forward to 2011, and you would expect a different sound, different song subjects, and all around different band with the release of “Post Mortem”. Sadly, that wasn’t much of the case. 75% of the record still deals with break up, revenge, and dare I say “teen angst”. You wouldn’t guess it from the first sound of the record. The opening track “Ashes” features Welsh metal man, Matt Tuck of “Bullet For My Valentine” on vocals. It slams, its fast, and aggressive. From there the anger and rock testosterone slowly drips away. Songs like “Honest Eyes” and”Take It Easy” obviously deal with a past or present love. Even “So Broken” draws you in with a killer opening 80′s guitar riff, and then explodes! You think, “all right, mother fuckers! Here we go!” The excitement quickly dwindles as the song breaks down into a slower pace, and again flows into what the younger generation calls “feelings”.
The whole record isn’t sappy, however. “Walking Dead Man” is an angry anthem that carries raw energy all the way through. The band explains the song in the making of the video: “The song is about someone you dislike. It’s about someone who doesn’t deserve what they’ve been given. So what if you have everything? You’re still an ass”. The first radio single, “That Fire“, still deals with the aspects of young love and breakup, but the music makes up for it. You can really hear how far these guys have come not only on that song, but on the whole record. The music alone is nothing short of pure talent, especially for a band this young.
“Post Mortem” definitely speaks to a younger rock/metal crowd, but at sometime these guys are gonna have to grow up and metal like men. They need to go and live life. Get in a bar fight, blow something up, hell even just do your own taxes. Those little things in life is what makes a great record. This band is on their way up, no doubt, but I think I’m more excited to hear what becomes of the next record.
Check out the music video HERE – Black Tide, “Walking Dead Man”
The entire new album “Post Mortem” can be heard via the stream on the bands MySpace HERE.
