Cruelly Melodically Awesome!!!

Recommended Album of the Month!!! Unless you think Britney Spears and Back Street Boys are the bomb.

Cruel Melody by Black Light Burns

For those of you who have no idea who the hell Black Light Burns are and/or are turned off by the slightly peculiar album cover, let me educate you and prove to you that music as we know/knew it is not dead and artistic album covers should not be frowned upon. Arent you tired of all the half naked women,bling blings and shiny rented sports cars?

First of all, if you have never heard of Limp Bizkit (or think its a type of food) i suggest you take a look at my disclaimer on the top right hand side of the blog and do exactly as it says.

For those of you who know Limp Bizkit and hate them, do consider reading on.

For those of you who know/Like Limp Bizkit but HATE Fred Durst, there must only be one reason that would justify your hatred for Fred. WES BORLAND. Then turning away from this album would be considered a sin.

Yes ladies and gentlemen, Black Light Burns is a pet project founded by Wes Borland and convincingly his most adventurous and worthy project as to date.

With the recording line up consisting of Danny Lohner (Nine Inch Nails, A Perfect Circle), Josh Eustis (Telefon Tel Aviv) and Josh Freese (The Vandals, A Perfect Circle, Nine Inch Nails) only the unimaginable would render this album a 'failure'.

In terms of their lineup, Black Light Burns is somewhat of a successor to the brief project The Damning Well, which consisted of mostly the same members. The main difference this time around being that Borland has taken vocals into his own hands, after many attempts to find a proper vocalist in various projects.(including Amy Lee of Evanesence and Richard Patrick of Filter and Army Of Anyone)

Now that ive got your attention, enough with the history lesson and ass kissing. Its time to get down to business.

The bands influence and style can be summarized as a mash up of all the bands the members have played in before. Borlands hard hitting melodic guitar riffs, Danny Lohners Nine Inch Nails influenced industrial arrangements, Josh Freeses odd time signatures in his drum beats and Josh Eustic's trance like electronic sampling.


The first single from the album Lie is a solid electronic charged hard rock track based on contrast , creepy verses and infectious trashing choruses. Most of the tracks are middle-paced and theres quite a few 'rock ballads' on the album like catchy industrial-esque Animal (which features a drum solo smiliar to Trent Reznors legendary 'Perfect Drug', except its played by Freese rather than a drum machine) and the title track that differs from whole concept of the record, but at the same time is the best one here.

Listening to the intro of Cruel Melody you would instantly recognize Borlands signature usage of clean delayed electric effects and the way he utilizes acoustic guitars really adds to the song.

Reportedly the song Mesopotamia was added on during the later stages of the album production as according to Wes, he just woke up from a nightmare one day with this song stuck in his head. And it WILL get stuck in your head or give you nightmares. Or both.

My favorite track off the whole album however is the mellow, 'I Am Where It Takes Me'. The ambient music arrangements combined with Borland & Johnette Napolitano, lead singer of Concrete Blonde, clever harmonic vocals creates a mellow, peaceful atmospheric feel , backing up claims that Borland is a natural pro in creating atmospheric music.

Although not intended to be the lead vocalist, Borland proves to be quite a strong vocalist. He doesn’t have some kind of great singing abilities, apart from powerful growls and loud screaming, but what’s more important he knows how to fit the song’s atmosphere. Borland feels the music and uses the right approach in every song.

While not being entirely innovative in creating a whole new concept or sound, the band, sounds very mature and professional, probably due to all the members backgrounds. It doesnt sound too raw nor it is over-polished and over-produced, Cruel Melody gets the melody right everytime and although considerably 'underdogs' could easily be contenders for best rock album of the year.

Easily deserves 9/10 stars.

Oh yeah, heres a little treat for all of you:



Black Light Burns - Lie