The Blackout
The Blackout EP
The Blackout seem to be moving in the right direction. From a gig at the Twist in Colchester to a national tour with Lostprophets. And the rise doesn’t appear to be slowing down. Let’s be honest though, if you didn’t come away from that tour with a confidence boost after making Lostprophets look like a band of amateurs then there’s reason to consider why you’re playing music. The Blackout do not need to reconsider their ability.
At the moment this new phase of post-hardcore, screamo metal or whatever the kids are calling it these days, seems to have taken over the popular alternative scene. Mainly due to a massive interest from angry teenagers, but in places The Blackout could make any sane person jump around and want to smash up the nearest antique collectables store run by moaning pensioners. It has a bit of everything a new band like this needs on a demo, crunching riffs, angry screaming and even a commercial aspect that will only help their chances of selling to the big stages.
But in places, the screaming begins to grind you down. It could easily be replaced with a simple melody and though most new hardcore bands are the same it won’t be until they turn twenty that they realise that they could have cut out sections here and there leaving a fair bit of screaming sounding as perfect as it gets. The Blackout seem adamant that a link with being screamo warriors will push them further into rock stardom and they might be right. But, along with hundreds of other new bands that are breaking through with their first demo, every band needs something different to make sure they stand out from the crowd.
While sounding a little too much like early Funeral for a Friend, The Blackout do show signs of breaking the mould. ‘It’s High Tide Baby’ has a commercial freedom that nobody can deny and ‘I’m a Riot’ will be sending moshers into a fist-flying frenzy.
Be prepared to see them hitting the big time as long as this new trend of ‘screamcore’ hangs around long enough for them to make their name.
Guest article from Matt C.
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