Theirs For The Taking
Bursting onto the scene a mere three years ago, you'd have been forgiven for dismissing Black Tide simply as a bunch of snotty nosed teens hell bent on causing trouble before sodding off. Their penchant for excess suggested that this was a band likely to burn bright but burn fast, never to follow up on their debut "Light From Above" which would have been a shame but could have easily been chalked up as merely another rock casualty. Thankfully the boys from Miami are back, to prove the doubters wrong and with their sophomore album, "Post Mortem" it looks as if they have matured and ready to show all that they are here for the long haul.
Throwing in the big guns straight away, "Post Mortem" stampedes its way out of the starting blocks with 'Ashes' a track that fittingly features Bullet For My Valentine's Matt Tuck on vocals, a choice that works well with Gabriel Garcia's. Indeed the influence of touring with the Welsh band is clear as Black Tide have beefed up their sound, adding more of a punch to each beat and serving up riffs to really sink your teeth into. That's not to say they have compromised on substance, "Post Mortem" is more than just an amped up sound; 'Bury Me' offers a polished chunk of metal that brutally slays with accomplished skill suggesting a band way beyond Black Tide's years and experience whilst 'Into The Sky' actually finds the Miami quartet veering as close to ballad territory as they are ever likely to get with great results. There are also still slices of good' old school rock' to be found on Black Tide's repertoire such as is the case with 'Lost In The Sound' and 'Walking Dead Man' but it is the band's ability to deliver sing along rock songs such as 'That Fire' which will undoubtedly earn them hoards of new fans, finding that perfect balance before aggression and melody to have the fists pumping and the vocal chords aching.
"Post Mortem" is the sound of a band that have matured, that have found their feet and who are ready to stand toe to toe with the big names in the metal world. True, not everything is perfect; there is of course still room for improvement but for such a wrong band to write their best album at this stage in their career would be somewhat sad. What "Post Mortem" does is capture a band that has finally found their path. For die hard Black Tide fans there are still enough chugging riffs to blow away the cobwebs but in addition to this now is substance and a real sense of direction. Black Tide is now a band no one will write off easily, the metal world is theirs for the taking.