Black Tide

I bought this because it was cheap, it's metal, and I'd heard their name in the context of metalheads getting really pissed off about them, which probably meant that it's pretty good stuff. It actually is fairly decent, probably made better because there's only two songs here. The first isn't as good as the second. 'Shockwave' is essentially a glam song dolled up with a little bit of modern heavy metal flair, and while I like Mötley Crüe as much as the next guy, they simply don't do it as well as them. 'Warriors Of Time' is a cool song that mixes up Hamemrfall type power/heavy metal with a little bit of faggy Euro power and some glam and manages to do quite well with the Dragonforce inspired melodies (minus the extravagant leads) and overall hilariously bombastic delivery.

This is pretty cool and probably made more interesting since the people in it are so young. The riffs are pretty consistently memorable and the vocals are well executed if a little bit lacking in range. Even the drumming is solid. Production is clean and strong if nothing amazing. Considering that I paid like a dollar for this, it's a great deal because there's two songs I generally like listening to plus it makes people really mad when I tell them I like Black Tide, so I consider that the main course with the songs as a bonus. But seriously, it's pretty good and you should get it. It's got some cool, flamboyant solos and other silly crap and it's over in less than ten minutes, which is probably as much of this as I could possibly stomach at once.

Seriously? Who knew that this band, that has toured with "great" acts like Avenged Sevenfold could create two songs this great. This relatively new band has created, to me, a great fucking straight up thrash/power metal cd.

First up is the song Shockwave. Man, how many riffs can they cram into this song. There has to be at least 5 different riffs. Gabriel, the singer/lead guitarist, really shines on this song. His unique Hetfield/Mustaine styled whine mixes well with the power metal singing. The guitar is fabulous on this song. The opening riff is catch as all hell. The solos are quite technical, for a 14 year old. The bass is heard, with quite the backbone to the song. The drums are good, simple, and basic. But that's what makes it so goddamn catchy.

Then is Warriors of Time. This is a power metal anthem. There is a short acoustic solo at the begining, then breaks into some 'Woahhhs'. This song is incredibly catchy from start to finish.

Again, who knew?