Review Summary: Never too dead to shred.
I like to think that I’m this band’s biggest fan. I’ve never met another human being who has heard of them, and I don’t think I have ever ran into anyone online who knows of their existence, which in my opinion, absolutely unforgivable. At the time of writing this, they only have 169 monthly listeners on Spotify, and I honestly believe that they deserve way more attention. I’m certain that other people like this band more than I, but I’m a self absorbed prick, I couldn’t care less. Because I also know that there are thousands of people who would love this band, and I want to make sure that potential fans know how great this band is.
Black Cat Attack, refer to themselves as “Horror Rock” and “Death Punk,” but I feel like this descriptor isn't quite accurate. It’s to much fun, and too tongue and cheek for them to really be called that. Regardless, this is “Edraculation” by Black Cat Attack:
The album starts out, picking up about where the previous one left off. Briefly explaining the aftermath of what happened in their previous album, while at the same time, providing little context as to what actually happened. I recommend listening their previous album first, and it only serves to make this one better. But this album starts off with a spoken track, in which the band meets a Vampire, who intends to use their new record to “blow up the sun” as he so eloquently stated. After a brief search for that blasted play button, the album cranks the energy up to eleven, and doesn’t come back down.
“Never 2 Dead 2 Shred” is the first real song on the album, and it provides the listener with a pretty solid idea as to what they’re getting into. Loud, heavily distorted guitars, fast, thumping, heavy drums, and bass that’s actually audible, which sadly enough, is pretty impressive, given the current state of rock music today. The two vocalists switch off throughout the song, with heavier yelled vocals from their male singer, who happens also be their bassist, and with equally as intense, albeit sang, lead vocals from a girl who’s full name I honestly cannot find. However, while attempting to research this band, I discovered that BCA happens to have none other than Dave Baksh on the lead guitar, who for the uninitiated, is the guitarist from a little known band, called “Sum 41,” who has an absolutely glorious guitar solo in this this song.
The remaining songs follow a similar formula, in terms of sound. The lyrics tell a bit of a story, with “Never 2 Dead 2 Shred” and “You’re One Ugly Mother***er” being slight detours, with the latter of the two actually telling the story of the movie Predator, and despite this questionable decision, it ends up working in their favor, as its one of the album’s best songs.
However, the best song on the album, by a wide margin is “At Midnight We Kill BCA” in which this album’s narrative reaches a bit of a climax. Provided you enjoy this style of music, this song is as close to perfect as any song in this genre will ever be. Verses with fantastic dumming, over a simple (yet enjoyable) heavily palm muted rhythm section, and very well performed vocals are just the beginning, because immediately after, your senses are bombarded, as the pre chorus/chorus explode with energy, which primarily come exclusively from the vocals, (from the band’s other singer) as she sings over a simple yet effective chord progression with extremely impressive intensity and ferocity. At a little over the halfway mark, the song begins to play around with a loud/quiet dynamic that is is nothing short of superb. And after this brief, yet fantastic bridge, the song finally goes in, full force as the song crescendos beautifully, as the chorus plays through once more, with added lead guitar work, and some subtle yet important backing vocals. The end result is a masterpiece of both insumentation, and production that remains unrivaled, even by much larger bands that one would assume possess much more talent.
The album takes a slightly more emotional route on the title track “Edraculation” which is also excellent. It keeps up the same fast pace that has remained consistent throughout the album, but with marginally heavier lead guitar parts, and more deliberate drumming, which contrasts nicely with the quiet, heavily reverberated cymbals that cascade down, as the song plays out. The end result is a slightly more restrained song, that still manages to maintain its trademark speed and heaviness. Where this song really shines is the vocals, which is done exclusively by the band’s female vocalist. Instead of singing with the slight rasp that is audible on other songs, that makes them feel a bit more raw, the singing here is clean and heartfelt, with quiet backing singing accentuating the mood well, and adding on to an already wonderfully done song. And all of this also serves to make the brief parts where the she sings harder and more intensely even better, and more powerful than they would have otherwise been.
But the world is unfair like that, and there’s nothing that anyone can do about it. But you may as well have some fun anyways, and this album is the perfect background music to anything that isn’t taxes, or any other form of paperwork. Anyone who makes/produces music, or plans to in the future needs to listen to this album. It is a true achievement, in the space of production, and musical prowess, and anyone in the space could learn a lot from it. The whole album is a perfect balance between being almost overproduced and too clean, and the raw and intense sound that the band seems to strive for, with the duality being struck here being extremely impressive, and one of the best parts of the album. Of course, great production is nothing without talented musicians, lyricists, and singer, (as evidenced by albums like “The Truth Hurts” by Theory Of A Deadman, which has excellent production, but everything else is awful.) But luckily, the album succeeds on this front two, with every aspect of the album’s music being extremely well played.
Overall, this album is pure fun, and has ungodly amounts of energy and creativity, crammed into its 21 minute runtime, and I feel like anybody who enjoys music as a calculated, and deliberate art form needs to listen to this album. The only meaningful critique I can think of is that at times, the yelled vocals aren't most enjoyable, and the album is a bit short for my liking, but these are as far from a deal breaker as an issue can get.
TLDR: Listen to this album. It's one of the best ever made.
