The Secret Fire

Black Tower is one of the most unique metal bands I have ever come across. The trio consisting of drummer, keyboarder and backing vocalist Dave Williams, bassist and backing vocalist Skottie Lobotomy and lead vocalist and guitarist Erin Ewing offers a mixture of melodic punk rock, traditional heavy metal and occasional black metal outbursts. Lyrics and artwork are inspired by Tolkien's literature. It's not surprising that a band with such an unusual sound is quite controversial and I have read many reviews criticizing the band while I have also come across very favorable opinions.

I discovered the band by coincidence when they opened for brilliant doom metal band Loviatar and immediately got into the band's sound that manages to be atmospheric and catchy at the same time. Despite its seemingly eclectic genre mixture, Black Tower really has its very own sound that is present from start to finish. The Secret Fire might only be thirty-two minutes long but it has such a great flow that it invites you to spin it over and over again.

Black Tower's band members have punk rock roots and know how to write short and concise tracks that will stay on your mind like the gripping ''Black Moon'' that is just above two minutes long. The band also knows how to employ gloomier sound with occult keyboard melodies as in the epic and almost progressive ''Winter''. Black Tower also manages to employ more aggressive soundscapes like in the compact opener ''Death March''. The band even offers an instrumental track with the closing ''(The Secret Fire)'' that comes around with campfire acoustic guitars and smooth keyboard sounds. One could perfectly imagine seeing the credits of a role play game rolling to this atmospheric tune that concludes the conceptual album perfectly.

My favorite song is ''Riders'' that convinces with desperate and sinister verses culminating in a memorable and almost uplifting chorus you won't get out of your mind. The transitions between oppressive doom metal melodies and energetic punk riffs, plodding bass sounds and vivid sections, rhythmic drum patterns and fast and simplistic passages are absolutely stunning. One also has to point out the vocals. Even though they sometimes sound out of tone and aren't perfect from a technical perspective which goes along with the band's rebellious punk spirit, they are diversified, energetic and meorable as the singer shifts from low and dramatic vocal lines to more natural and melodic passages and occasional screams and shrieks. The vocals almost work like an additional instrument in this song to enhance the track's atmosphere. This surprising vocal technique represents the record's stylistics very well.

Not everything is perfect with this album as the band still has room for improvement. The vocals could be a little bit more concise and skillful. The black metal elements could be a little bit more dominant to enhance the group's unique genre combination. The next record could be a little bit longer than just thirty-two minutes as well.

However, I really dig Black Tower's occult hybrid of punk and metal stylistics. If one takes into consideration that The Secret Fire is the debut album of a low-key band from a place with a fairly limited metal scene, one has to applaud the trio for its imaginative first strike. I can only repeat myself by saying that The Secret Fire sounds like nothing else I have ever heard. If you like both metal and punk and are ready to open up your mind for something courageous, fresh and unique, then give this hidden gem a few spins. If you're a metal traditionalist however, then this surely isn't your cup of tea.

While I find it commendable that Skottie Lobotomy of Canadian melodic punk band Crusades has tried his hand at heavy metal, the results are highly mixed. Their talents clearly don't lie in this genre, and maybe it would be a good idea for them to collectively stick to making punk rock, which is what they're good at. The Secret Fire is far from being the worst thing I've ever heard, but there's absolutely nothing notable about this release. I almost wish it was outright terrible, because at least it would be memorable. I mean, albums like Morbid Angel's...erm, legendary Illud Divinum Insanus are complete garbage, but at least they're experiences that stick with you, for better or worse.

What the band is going for is a combination between NWOBHM, black metal, and oldschool punk. Every once in a while, these influences coalesce to create something interesting, but these interesting moments almost always fizzle out quickly and the music subsequently becomes dull as a result.

Now, let's talk about this bit from their bio -
"In short, BLACK TOWER is metal that wears its nerd credentials proudly on its sleeve."
Okay, cool. So what? Blind Guardian dedicated an entire album to JRR Tolkien's The Silmarillion. The cover art of Burzum's Det som engang var is inspired by Dungeons and Dragons, the mother of all tabletop roleplay games. Bolt Thrower clearly had a hard on for Warhammer 40k. Nightwish wrote a song that's basically nothing but Disney references for eight fucking minutes. It's actually quite common for metalheads to have nerdy hobbies and be shamelessly outspoken about them, that and nerd culture is now mainstream - look at the massive success of LOTR, Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Marvel movies. Who gives a shit? You can talk about nerdy stuff all you want in your music, what matters is how well you pull it off. The other bands mentoned all managed to succeed in what they were aiming for and seemed genuine, where as Black Tower have crafted a largely mediocre album that elicits nothing but a yawn from this listener.

Honestly, the problem seems to be that they aren't metalheads, they're punks trying to make a metal album. It lacks a metal spirit, has some of the weakest vocals I've heard in the genre, has bland guitar work that fails to evoke any sort of mood or atmosphere, and is just a chore to sit through. I enjoy Crusades - they make good, solid punk rock music. Stick to that, Skottie. If you want good throwback retro-style metal, maybe you should give the Enforcer discography a listen, or perhaps the newest Striker album - just not this, ignore this.

I'm only familiar with Black Tower because recently I've had the misfortune of seeing them open for better bands. Never having heard them before I was unsure what to expect; especially due to what the members looked like - two hipsters got up on stage, followed by a headband-clad arch-brodude drummer who looks like he just drunkenly stumbled off the set of American Pie: Beta House. I've seen many forgettable opening bands before, but Black Tower was actively fucking annoying. If it was just instrumental it would be nothing more than extremely unremarkable, but it is the vocals that make the bands egregiously unforgivable.

The band does not fare much better on record. Like their live performance, almost nothing happens instrumentally. There are a few examples of them half-heartedly attempting to spice things up, but as soon as the vocals come in it regresses back to hit a power chord a few times, move down the neck a little and hit another power chord a few times. The whole thing comes off as incredibly uninspired and not hard-hitting in the least. What it all comes down to is the guitarist has no idea how to construct an interesting riff. The drummer comes off as somehow even more uninspired. He plays the most bare bones patterns possible and calls it a day. During the live set he did not touch the toms once, and never attempted a fill. Here, he occasionally goes for it, but his fills just consist of hitting the snare drum a few times.

So far, things seem exceptionally lame, but ultimately forgettable. It is the vocals which make this band go to inoffensively disposable to actively atrocious. I think the main problem here is that they don't actually want to be a metal band. The vocals (and songwriting to a lesser extent) are honestly more related to pop-punk than anything. For the punk influence, I've seen most people throw around a Bad Religion reference. This does make a bit of sense given both bands' penchant for vocal harmonies, but in reality they come off more as New Found Glory attempting to cover Bad Religion. The dual female-male vocal delivery is pretty awful considering it is nauseatingly poppy, uninspired and a bit out of tune. Sure, they do manage to be catchy, but it's the type of highly annoying catchiness that is saccharine and hollow. The worst is when she tries to go heavy. There are a few times she attempts a black metal screech and it has to be some of the most tepid and uninspired harsh vocals I have ever heard. To make matters worse, they are backed by a laughable attempt at appropriating black metal into their sound. Thankfully this usually only lasts for a few seconds. I've actually seen this described as black metal, which shows how hilariously gullible some people are. A limp-dicked attempt at aping some black metal aesthetics does not make a black metal band.

If you need any more evidence on what a lame band Black Tower is, lets delve into their lyrics for a minute. Like thousands of bands before them, they choose to sing about Tolkien's works. Like everything else they do, the lyrics are generic and it doesn't even seem like they were really trying. While the riffs are quite lifeless, they attempt to incorporate a lot of influences into their sound - trad metal, NWOBHM, black metal, hardcore ect. At the end of the day they just sound like they really want to play at the Warped Tour. If you want to hear a pop punk punk band charading as a metal one attempt to belt out uplifting poppy harmonies about hobbits while not even managing to stay in tune, it looks like this is your lucky day. If not, better just skip this one.

Review originally published at www.teethofthedivine.com by E.Thomas.

Black Tower is a Canadian trio that play a form of punk/thrash/power/heavy/black metal that’s a perfect fit for Unspeakable Axe Records, and might actually be their best release yet. And while that mish-mash of styles might overwhelm some, it’s going to appeal to a lot of folks, as it’s done with an awesome retro but fun and fresh delivery that makes it as addictive as hell.

Now admittedly, its not all roses, as the traditional heavy metal croons of lead vocalist and guitarist Erin Ewing are a bit flat, as are the back up vocals of her two male compadres Dave Monomania (drums) and Skottie Lobotomy (bass), even with few blackened hawkish screams here and there, that keep things on the more extreme side (i.e “Shadows”).

But The Secret Fire is about riffs- rollicking Maiden-y, punky (some of these riffs I can picture on an Offspring release), fist raising riffs laden with a twangy Harris-y bass and its all brought together by Topan Das (yeah, he of Fuck the Facts) and a nice analog sound that gives everything a clear but organic sound. Throw in lyrics and imagery all dealing with Tolkien based mythology and you have a complete package.

The likes of opener “Death March” (with a great video using the 80s fantasy cheese movie classic Sorceress), personal favorite the criminally short “Black Moon” with a deadly chorus and some 70’s style keys which litter other tracks), “Winter”, “Dark Lord” and the blacker, aforementioned “Shadows” and “Dragon Flies” will have you yelling, head banging and first pumping in your car with the windows down. It’s the perfect summer metal album.

A few tempered moments like “Riders” and “Night Siege” will have the lighters out, though not full on ballads as the album is still pretty well a rocker from start to finish and has become my new guilty pleasure when I need time away from HM2 buzzsaws, breakdowns and growls.