 Heartbeats; clichés, lifelines, cheesy romance thrillers, the feeling you get when everything seems right, the adrenaline rush. Heartbeats are incredibly important things, as not only do we as animals depend upon them, but it is the one organ we can always depend upon to show us how we’re feeling. It’s from the heart than we get our rush, our passion and our soul. And it seems this was the drive for Blacklisted with their debut full length album ‘…The Beat Goes On’. From the artwork and iconic imagery of this album, to the title, to the music itself, this album is all about heartbeats and the passion within them, proven by the way that this album is an adrenaline rush.
Blacklisted hail from Philadelphia, USA and have been quickly mentioned as the future of hardcore music with their intelligent lyrics and drive, complimented with refreshingly interesting riffs and a desire to abstain from the generic. Blacklisted are a band who embraces all their different influences to create a ferocious yet honest hardcore sound that simply cannot be ignored. Lead track ‘How Quickly We Forget (Again)’ is stunning as it is moving every time you hear it; it is essentially an anthem, while happily sitting in the conventions of hardcore music. A rare task. From the iconic opening bass line, to the scream-a-long climax, it is the proof of Blacklisted’s amazing songsmanship and ability. And the album is full of wonderful tracks like that, in 23 minutes and 13 tracks, it is one of the most unique and uplifting listens one could hope for, particularly for when the listener is in a gritty, bitter mood, and thus essential.
It really does seem appropriate that the whole album is based on the idea of heartbeats, right from the word go with the fantastic ‘Tourist’ there is a heartbeat to the writing and production of this album, which drives all the way through it. The varied sounds on this album showing the heartbeat’s struggle, but always carrying on, until the finale ‘Mother Theresa’, the slower paced instrumental where “…the beat goes on” but finally gets it’s rest through the struggle and anguish of the subject matter all these songs represent throughout the album.
This is not the average “Tough Guy” hardcore of Hatebreed, or the almost lazy approach that a lot of bands take in just ripping off their peers; this is clever, moving music that nearly anyone with a temper or with a taste of music can appreciate. Not only is it one of the finest hardcore albums I’ve heard, but one of the best generally for quite some time, and it gives me great pleasure to start 2006 with this record at my finger tips. Remember the name, in a year or so, Blacklisted will be surpassing their influences of Terror and American Nightmare as one of hardcore music’s most important adversaries.
Adam Turner-Heffer |
| Coding: Darren Burrows