SOULS OF TIDE – Black Magic

Old School Classic Rock and Metal Come Together

The band is Souls of Tide from Hamar, Norway and the new album is Black Magic, and in just 8 songs and 34 minutes running time they give us a nice blend of what some people call Classic Rock with a Heavy Metal vibe. It must be the sweet Hammond organ by Kjetil Banken that lends them to the Classic Rock genre, or is it the strange similarity that vocalist Vegar Larsen has to very young Bono of U2? Either way, they have a solid sound that does take you back to a different time in music.

Voodo Ritual

Right out of the gates they hit you with “Voodo Ritual” which kicks off the album very nicely as they do indeed have a classic sound, from the guitar mix right down to the drum sounds. If you are looking for drop D tuning and 7 string guitar sounds, then you are on the wrong record and for me, that’s more than just fine. After several listenings, their sound grew on me quite a bit. I like the breaks, the fast parts, the slow downs, the great lead guitars and sweet bass sounds. Perhaps I was reminded a bit of old U2 by the absence of backing harmonies, and it didn’t bother me a bit as Vegar Larsen  has a great set of pipes that sound just fine solo.

Final Notes

None of the songs exceeds 5 and a half minutes, so the album moves along at a good pace. Not once was I tempted to skip ahead to the next song, and with modern releases often breaking an hour in length and 15 songs that’s refreshing. Just like any true Classic Rock album, Black Magic fits perfectly on vinyl so no matter what format you prefer you are in for a solid half hour + of listening enjoyment. For fans of old school bands that started it all like Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, etc. the album is well worth the price of admission.

Lineup

Vegar Larsen – Vocals
Anders Langberg – Guitar
Ole Kristian Østby – Lead Guitar
Øyvind Strõnen Johannesen – Bass
Tommy Kristiansen – Drums
Kjetil Banken – Hammond

Tracklist

Voodoo Ritual
Firegirl
Through the Fire
Morning Star
Black Magic
Interlude
The Offering
Evening Star

Running time: 34 minutes