Humanoid

They say that miracles don't happen, but Black River's "Humanoid" should be considered precisely in terms of a miracle. After all, this peculiar super-group, after Taff's illness, fell silent for a long eight years. Maciek, after his recovery, was in no hurry to return to the world of music, and the other members of the band also focused on various activities, including work in other bands (Hunter and Behemoth among others). So the news of the reactivation was a very big surprise, not to mention the announcement of a new album... However, was it a good thing that the group immediately rushed into the studio, or would it have been better if they had focused only on their concert activities for the time being?

The physical version of the album was released by Mystic Production, and it's a real treat. The release took the form of a black digipak, with a rather simple artwork by Mariusz Filipowicz on the front and a glossy tracklist on the back. "The cover" was created from thick, hard paper, making "Humanoid" resemble a small book (I hope that the resistance to injury will be similar as well!). Upon opening it, we are greeted by a photo of the group and a great, permanently glued booklet, containing all the lyrics of the songs included on the album and high-quality photos of all of the musicians (it is worth mentioning that the paper itself is of very high quality). It all presents itself nicely, further encouraging us to get acquainted with the contents of the (dark as night) disc.

On "Humanoid" the band takes no prisoners: from the very beginning it attacks us with a strong rock'n'roll mixed with metal in the form of the catchy "Flying High". And throughout almost the entire album the group does not intend to slow down. Mainly we get fast, dynamic and quite simple songs, whose task is one: they are to kick our ass. And these unpretentious compositions, such as "Abyss", "Revolution" or "Monster" (my favorite!), do it perfectly. There is no shortage of hits on the new release: melodies or choruses are hummed for hours - probably only a lobotomy could knock them out of our heads. Of course, in places Black River also plays with its music, further diversifying the disc: in such "Q" and "World in Black" the band hits the southern atmosphere, on "The Rebel" dirty rock'n'roll rubs up against angry punk, and "H.T. Angel" is deceptively reminiscent of... Rootwater! Especially that crazy ending, in which Taff howls like Serj Tankian from System of a Down.

Yeah, Taff... Maciej was the biggest unknown of "Humanoid", as he disappeared from the music world for years. One could have had some concerns about his vocal form, and I hasten to report that his return to the metal realm was... satisfying. The guys decided not to spare their frontman and immediately threw him in at the deep end, forcing him to deliver both strong, low, "rough" parts (such as in "Humanoid" and "Abyss") and high, frantic vocalizations. He managed quite well, although in places the overly hard pronunciation of some English phrases and words can be offputting. Some may also be bothered by the fact that his voice is sometimes heavily processed, but I think that this was more an artistic decision, than a form of hiding certain imperfections... Lyrically, "Humanoid" does not try to be somehow mega-ambitious, telling in simple words about the dirty world around us or dealing with adversity. At times it can be rather serious (Taff singing about being "no longer dead to the world"), at other times "tongue-in-cheek" - the most important thing is that it blends well with the music contained on the album (although when we look at the lyrics with the singer's illness story in mind, interesting things come out...).

The sound of "Humanoid" is selective, crystal clear: you can hear every sound, every single note. And although before the release of the album, along with the first singles promoting it, there were complaints about the lack of "dirt", characterizing "Black'n'Roll", but... Well, turn on "Humanoid" on a good piece of equipment or headphones and answer the question: do you really want it all, those guitars or rhythm section, to sound like, for example, on the last Venom release? The musical world has moved forward, and Szymon Sienko, who is responsible for mixing and mastering, proves that he keeps his hand on the pulse. From me: a big round of applause. Big applause also for the guys from Black River, because after years of non-existence they managed to cope with the pressure of expectations by delivering a great, catchy CD, not opening a new chapter in the group's history, but rather continuing the story interrupted in 2010.

Originally written for www.metalside.pl