BLACKSHINE – Lifeblood

The Swedish Metal band Blackshine, formed in 1988, is not well-known and there’s a big reason for that phenomena. Just listen to their new release, Lifeblood, and you’ll know why. This is one of the worst Metal releases so far this year, and the first impression you get after listening to this album is that every song sounds almost the same as any other on the record. To be honest, there are no highlights on Lifeblood. It’s just awful!

They first started out as a Death Metal act, but changed quickly (before their first release Hetshead) into what they are now, categorized as Power Goth or Goth ‘N’ Roll. This brought them out on a Scandinavian tour, supporting Bruce Dickinson. Can you believe that? Giving this band a record deal is one of the worst things to happen in the Metal world ever.

The first track is a very fast song called “Cure In The Shape Of Noise.” It’s intense and riff-based, and it almost has a little potential at times, but then the horrible vocal tears it down. Anyway, the refrain is a little catchy and makes the nightmare a little easier, and somewhere in the middle of the song there is an “acoustic” part that is an attempt to slow down and make the song a little more interesting. They succeeded in that arena, because it sounds very good. This is the best song on the album, but it didn’t work as an opening track. Not at all!

“Born A Denier” opens up with a kick-ass guitar riff, but is taken all the way down from the top when the awful verse comes in with the abominable vocals. You might say Strokirk’s vocal is the element that brings the band to the bottom. They would have been at a completely different level without him, and would have delivered music at a much higher standard. Music that wouldn’t have been torn apart by his appalling voice.

The fuzz guitar sounds lousy. Of course, there’s a lot of power in it, but it stings your ears and honestly, the guitar players don’t aren’t going to impress anyone. There’s a lot of bad/good riffing, but the guitar-highlights are nowhere. The drummer does a very fine job on this album, and may be the only one who casts a favorable impression. Stipen is not a special drummer, but what he does on this record saves it from falling all the way down to the bottom. In this case, he’s the bridge over troubled waters and the others in Blackshine should be really disappointed over his departure from the band, after finishing recording the album. Not a bad move on his part, though.

Sadly, there’s nothing about Blackshine that you can find interesting, apart from the drummer. Remarkably, this is a band with almost no talent. At times, some riffs and song parts work really well, but are then crushed by a totally rotten refrain or verse, and most of that is caused by the terrible vocals. Blackshine is a band that never will attain much success, and the release of this album will not propel them any further up!

Lineup

Anders Strokirk – Guitar, Vocals
Joakim Stabel – Guitar
Fredrik Holmberg – Bass
Chris Barkensjö – Drums
(all drums on the album played by Stipen)

Track List

1. Cure In The Shape Of Noise
2. Born A Denier
3. Lifeblood
4. Stonefog
5. Powerghoul
6. Unbroken
7. Burn The World
8. Face The Bastard God
9. Dwell In Black
10. Second Rate Blasphemer
11. Denial Of Pain