BLACK WATER RISING – Brother Go On

Black Water Rising came to rock the Metal world with some tasty stuff that will be featured in their upcoming release next year. This tasty material barges in with some explosive grooves that partly resemble the late grooves of Pantera and Machine Head but with less aggression. Although less aggressive, there is something strong spiking out from this small sampler of newfound power.

The beginning of Black Water Rising was in the range between 2005-2006, in Brooklyn, New York, in the US of A. The band members are ex-members of some local bands like Stereomud, Boiler Room and Dust To Dust. These guys demonstrate a modern version of the Hard N’ Heavy but it’s not close to the Hard Rock or Heavy Metal that was known in the past or currently known today. Some folks even don’t recognize them as a Metal band at all. All the debates regarding the genre didn’t hold back the band from releasing its first EP, this year, while looking forward to their first full-length upcoming album. As the band said, this release, Brother Go On, is just a small dosage of what will be in their new album. For what is seen in this little one, there is something to hope for.

Rob Traynor, the vocalist and guitarist, handled this release’s production. The rate of it is quite good, giving it some sense of renewed Sabbath’s depressive sound. The guitars are B tuned, to provide more power to the music along with the support of the bass line, which is regular in many releases. The drums, especially the snare sound, are a bit light for this type of style, where they should sound more aggressive to be tuned with the guitars and bass. In addition, there is the lead guitar line, which is very impressive and works well with the low tuned guitar.

The band’s material can come across as some sort of an offshoot to Black Sabbath, especially in the main riff’s section and the depressive guitar sound. For example tracks like: “Brother Go On” and “Hate Machine”. These two produce some groovy riffs that are reminiscent of the 70’s era of Sabbath but with a more modern sound. Also, the structure of the songs is pretty simple, these guys go straight forward with no hints of progressiveness, they want to preserve what is already in and not try to invent something else. Like they said in their MySpace page: “… We are not looking to reinvent the wheel, just want to give it a much-needed alignment in these musically stale times”. As goes their statement, their music goes accordingly. The outcome of all this is simple, modern Hard Rock music with some elements of modern Heavy Metal infused with various grooves.

Brother Go On gives you, the listeners, the chance to take a peek into their new album with an EP of only four songs. The songs are more than solid and even possess a hit number. That is good for a release this small. The opening song, “Brother Go On”, is short but wicked. This number was made into a video clip, produced by the promising producer, Noah Shulman, who also produced Soil and The Autumn Offering, and already raised a couple of heads in the music industry. The song is also a part of a monthly Metal collection that goes by the name of Metal Edge.

The second song,”Living Proof” is a straight up groovy tune with a strong chorus made by the excellent vocalist, Robert Traynor. Also in the song, there is a great, massive kick down that turns into a blowout with a great riff that goes well with Traynor’s voice. Coming in third is the track, “Hate Machine”, that possesses a great Sabbath opening along with a Hard Rock main riff. This one sounds like a low gained Black Label Society tune without the wild solos. The guitarist, Johnny Fattoruso, has some great moments in this one, unleashing several small solo verses. In this track, one might notice a resemblance between Traynor’s voice to Andy Makin’s of Adrian Smith’s late Psycho Motel with clean and clear vocal lines that produce fine melodies. The final track is a number that won’t be included in their upcoming release, “Something’s Wrong”. This one is solid, no more. It has a nice chorus and a nice main riff.

As a bonus to this release there are the band’s photos and the “Brother Go On” video that was recently released.

So what is left for the listener is for them is to expect, with patience, Black Water Rising’s new album with the hope that it will rock, break, and be as good as this EP. Let’s see if they will show promise. Good luck for you B.W.R and for the New York Knicks.