Blackstar None
Metal Mind Records - 2003
By Adam McAuley
Sometimes you have to prevent your first impressions from portraying a positive or negative opinion about a band. Doing this was very difficult with Blackstar. This isn't the group of the same name that features members of Carcass and Cathedral, but rather a Polish nu-metal outfit.
From the first track alone, I gathered that None was going to be a generic and tedious listen. The songs are obvious attempts at jumping on a commercial nu-metal bandwagon, and the lyrics are similarly infantile for the most part. These traits run through the entire disc, and despite some fairly addictive sections, it's difficult to escape from the predefined boundaries the band work within.
I found the material present here nondescript until the last two tracks when the band finally decided to try something compelling. "Burning Land" is a ballad that begins with a violin intro and adds much needed diversity at this point of the album. The last track is a techo-styled metal affair, and a fairly unique finishing song. Other than these two songs, nothing stood out.
None is a very typical nu-metal release through and through. If you've heard Slipknot, you know what to expect. I wouldn't say they're better or worse than that notorious band, but they are similarly generic and uninteresting. As such, I didn't really like this album.
4/10
[url="http://www.metalmind.com.pl/]Official Metal Mind Records Website[/url]
Metal Mind Records - 2003
By Adam McAuley
Sometimes you have to prevent your first impressions from portraying a positive or negative opinion about a band. Doing this was very difficult with Blackstar. This isn't the group of the same name that features members of Carcass and Cathedral, but rather a Polish nu-metal outfit.
From the first track alone, I gathered that None was going to be a generic and tedious listen. The songs are obvious attempts at jumping on a commercial nu-metal bandwagon, and the lyrics are similarly infantile for the most part. These traits run through the entire disc, and despite some fairly addictive sections, it's difficult to escape from the predefined boundaries the band work within.
I found the material present here nondescript until the last two tracks when the band finally decided to try something compelling. "Burning Land" is a ballad that begins with a violin intro and adds much needed diversity at this point of the album. The last track is a techo-styled metal affair, and a fairly unique finishing song. Other than these two songs, nothing stood out.
None is a very typical nu-metal release through and through. If you've heard Slipknot, you know what to expect. I wouldn't say they're better or worse than that notorious band, but they are similarly generic and uninteresting. As such, I didn't really like this album.
4/10
[url="http://www.metalmind.com.pl/]Official Metal Mind Records Website[/url]
