Pitch Black - Pitch Black

I've never been a big fan of Halloween punk, and... Well, I'll just say it first - Pitch Black was a pleasant surprise! I didn't know what to expect from a purple and orange album cover, and the bloody text could easily have represented bad metal. This is not bad metal. We stumble right into blazing fast, heavy, & dark punk from the getgo, and I just had to sit still to take it all in. Initially, the vocals brought me back to my earlier years, skipping around the house to The Dead Milkmen and singing about drinking bleach, but this guy had much more rhythm, rasp, and seriousness. "The Wrath" ended and I sat quietly holding my breath for the next one. Let's jump to 17 minutes later - I'm really loving this album! "Undefented" and "Resting Place" fall back to a slower and creative chordal rock song, with less harping from our singer, and more singing. You've got one or two tracks on here that could be considered punk epics, hitting a maximum song length of around 5 minutes and dwelling on hypnotic outros. The album, in it's entirely, has a few low points, but that's being nitpicky. It's pretty short, you don't have a very substantial "album" but you shouldn't expect more from a genre release like this. It is good, so whether you will like it or not will be strictly preference. It's a great sounding CD with a fabulous mix! It's got full production with punchy drums, yet it still remains raw. If you're a fan, it's Horror/skate punk on a pretty listenable level. I'm handing Pitch Black 4.0 manstyle points. [pitchblack.carpe-noctem138.com]