Release Date: December 18th 2024. Record Label: Powerwax Records. Formats: CD/DD
Black Afterglow - Track Listing:
1.Drifting in Slow Motion 06:34
2.A Legacy of Eternal Night 05:23
3.Floating Forever High 07:33
4.Walls Closing in 05:16
5.Black Afterglow 13:56
6.Distortions of A Heartless Dream 07:03
7.A Blue Sky & A Raging Sea 03:32
8.The Needle Never Lied 05:35
Members
Shane Beck (The Last American Poet)
Tjeerd de Jong (The Instrumentalist)
Review
Black Afterglow’s debut album operates outside the normal creative strategy of Psychedelic Stoner Rock albums with this being told through a Spoken Word narrative provided by Shane Beck. The instrumental surroundings are provided by Tjeerd de Jong which makes up for an interesting partnership though these two highly talented individuals teamed up earlier this year for the excellent project Burial Beyond The Sea. Black Afterglow is quite similar to that sublime project but with this record being more similar, cinematic and experimental with the warped noises, glitched sounds and distorted Electronic effects.
Shane Beck feels inspired by a Spaced Out version of Jim Morrison at times with his lyrics and psychedelic insights sounding they’re being transmitted from a totally different dimension or higher level plane of existence. Tjeerd de Jong’s music is beautifully heavy and quite peaceful within the quieter reflective surroundings of the album. Though, there’s a wicked sounding Doom, Drone and Stoner Metal structure being developed and played for the majority of the album. With a subdued style of Jazz, Prog and Americana appearing out of nowhere, Black Afterglow reigns supreme on the heavier instrumental passages on the album.
The opening batch of tracks Drifting In Slow Motion, A Legacy Of Eternal Night and Floating Forever High showcase a wealth of different styles of music that maybe quite “ALIEN” to some, especially with the lyrical insight that Shane Beck writes for the album. Heavy, trippy and overlapping instrumental sounds are quite freakishly LOUD, CONSTANT and AGGRESSIVE which gives this record an unsettling feeling.
Black Afterglow could be considered an outright Post-Metal, Post-Doom or Ambient Metal project with the band reminding me of The Doors, OM, BONG and Eagle Twin all vying for musical supremacy. The production values are quite LO-FI which allows the music to be played at distance whilst still being FORCEFUL and HEAVY on the later stages of the album.
The record perhaps loses focus at times with the multitude of different styles of music that Black Afterglow experimented with but it’s never BORING. The whole journey is one of self discovery and can be beautifully therapeutic in places especially on tracks such as: Walls Closing In, Black Afterglow and A Blue Sky & A Raging Sea though the album never shies away from developing a bleak sensibility even in the moments of calmness.
With an eerie PINK FLOYD lyrical influence starting to develop, Black Afterglow’s debut album is a daring, cerebral and experimental record that can easily be considered a masterclass of the modern day Psych Rock scene. Just be prepared for a band that pulls no punches in creating a mind-expanding style of music that will live long in the memory.
Excellent and Highly Recommended.
Words by Steve Howe
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