Welsh band Black Lakes recently released their debut album “For All We’ve Left Behind” and for a band that, musically speaking, ply their trade in a Modern/Post/Nu Metal & Rock way, a style I listen to less, they have really made me sit up and listen because this album is loaded with twelve hard hitting but hugely melodic tracks of high quality.
What you notice immediately, when pressing play, is how well produced this is for a debut. Yes, I know it’s easier to get a more decent sound these days but you still need someone good behind the scenes to give the music that final professional sheen and to help project the message. Believe me, I’ve heard some good music this year that has been let down with shoddy production but that is certainly not the case with Black Lakes. This sounds huge and that bodes well for a young band.
As you might expect from this style of music it is, lyrically, on the depressing side but we’ve all been through a pretty tough time over the last 2 ½ years so it’s not unusual for bands to be in that mind-set when writing material. Black Lakes themselves say “For All We’ve Left Behind represents the bands shared experiences of loss, depression, suicide, deception, and deceit. There are also moments of light to counterpoint these strong negative emotions. The culmination of our work over the last three years is 12 songs that we feel speak of the struggles of the human condition disarmingly honestly, but with hope for a different future for all”. That is a very honest assessment of the music presented here and, perhaps, it is something I have been able to connect with more than I usually would, due to my own personal struggles recently.
Even though there is no theme or connection this is another body of music that feels well put together and thought out rather than just a selection of standalone songs. After a number of years where bands seemed to throw everything including the kitchen sink on an album and in an age when many just download 1 or 2 favourites off a release, there now seems to be a rediscovering of the essence of flow. There isn’t any padding or filler here, every song is where it should be and it feels complete.
There is much to discover here and repeated listens opened up facets that I initially missed. Even though I very much liked this on the first spin, there are some really great riffs and groove laden songs here, the album keeps giving, meaning it’s a grower and a mature one. I’ll say again that this doesn’t sound like a debut.
I suspect many ‘traditional’ Metal/Rock ‘fans’ will pass this by without giving Black Lakes a chance and that is why I dislike genre tags. “For All We’ve Left Behind” is a fine album and one that should be experienced fully by actually listening to it before passing judgement! I shall be following them with interest!
Track List
01. Exordium
02. Avarice
03. Dissident
04. Fragments
05. Verity In Flames
06. The Divide
07. Landslide
08. Ghosts (Of Our Memories)
09. Deathrone
10. Break The Silence
11. For All We’ve Left Behind
12. Black Days Come
Band Members
Will Preston – Vocals
Scott Brashaw – Guitars
James Rowlands – Guitars
Dylan Burris – Guitars
Lee Harris – Bass
Dafydd Fuller – Drums
This review is solely the property of Richard Tilley and The Metal Asylum