The New Black – S/T (2009)
The Bio on Germany’s latest metal band, The New Black describes the band like this: “Just imagine Black Label Society inviting the Nickelback guy over for some Thin Lizzy covers, all dressed up in Pantera shirts.” While this kind of sounds like a hot mess of influences, I am not sure if I could say it any better than that. The music on this CD is a cool mix of classic metal and modern hard rock. It is a step above the majority of the stuff you are hearing on U.S. radio stations today.
The New Black’s singer, Fludid has an almost James Hetfield like growl. His voice has just enough coarseness to make the songs interesting. The music on this CD has a much heavier edge than today’s modern hard rock acts. There is some of that distorted guitar sound that haunts U.S. rock radio, but it is mixed with plenty of solos and a dash of Zakk Wylde style pinch harmonics here and there.
There is a lot of cool music on this disc. It is nearly impossible to listen to “Everlasting”, and not bang your head. Once the guitars kick in, it is practically irresistible. “Why I Burn” almost rips off the Pantera type of groove to start off with, but then settles into a very cool, crunch filled rocker. The New Black dishes out a bunch of Thin Lizzyisms in their music. Obviously, the tunes are heavier here, but you can’t listen to “Coming Home” or “Simplify” and not recognize the similarities of their twin axe attack. With that being said, both songs are really well done, and are a good listen. I love the blues harp intro on “Simplify”.
If there was any song on this disc that could sneak onto U.S. Radio, “More Than A Man” will be the one. This song kind of reminds me of Shinedown on steroids. It is an up tempo tune, with a cool modern rock slant.
Even though “50 Ways To Love Your Live’ is not one of my favorites on this CD, there are some really cool riffs that are worth listening to.
Some of the other highlights are “Ballad of Broken Angels”, “Love is Blue”, and “Drive”.
The more I listen to this CD, the more I like it. I believe The New Black has created one of the better hard rock albums of 2009. Check them out on myspace at this link, or at Reverbnation here. If you like what you hear (and I bet you will), you can download a copy of the song “Everlasting” for free from AFM Records here.
Rating: 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Everlasting
- Why I Burn
- Coming Home
- More Than A Man
- Simplify
- 50 Ways To Love Your Liver
- Ballad Of Broken Angels
- Not Me
- Superman Without A Town
- Man Who Saw The Universe, The
- Love Is Blue
- Drive
- Welcome To Point Black
- Wound
The New Black is:
Fludid – Vocals
Christof Leim – Guitars
Fabian Schwarz – Guitars
Gunt Auschrat – Bass
Chris Weiss – Drums
Hard Rock Hideout 
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