Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Vengeance is mine…the cry and the anger filled release of those who cannot wait for karma to finish the job, who seek providence and fortune in taking the fight directly to the source and punishing the guilty with their own two hands. It is the reprisal of the self, the moment when the settling of scores can only be undertaken by the one whose heart has been riled enough to sing from the rooftops and into the limelight and spotlight glare, that the lyrics are so personal and responsive that they become the weapons of choice for the one who exclaims loudly… “Vengeance Is Mine, indeed.”
To boldly proclaim the heroic as they deal in karmic resolutions is to think of a metal enthused version of Allen Ginsberg’s Howl, the driving of pain, the urban and studio like wolf who seeks to destroy from within and take down the wrongs meted out by life, by the lust of destruction by chance, fate, and kismet. For Serious Black and their brand-new studio album, Vengeance Is Mine, vengeance comes in the form of righteous letting go, of shedding the skin of all that ails, all that is collected like the whispers of dust that collect on the show from walking down an unknown street.
After all the best form of retribution is live your live in such a way that it irritates the hell out of those who wronged you. You can name and shame, you can think of all the ways that you would smile as revenge is granted, but nothing makes you smile more than by writing down the ways, scattering to the four corners of a studio, and then feeling the warmth of adulation that comes your way from those that matter, those who love you and the art you have weaved.
It is with a solid punch, a jab here, an uppercut there, that vengeance is to be found in the music that encompasses tracks such as Out Of The Ashes, Senso Della Vita, Ray Of Light, Tonight I’m Ready For You, the excellent Soldiers Of Eternal Light, and Queen Of Lies, the struggle, the imagination, and the groove are elegant, powerful, they stand shoulder to shoulder with their comrades, and the vengeance is felt as each song ripples with anticipation and longing for a resolution, an aching that can only be felt in the restoration of balance keenly appreciated by Serious Black’s powerful music ensemble.
A creatively powerful recording, Serious Black dole out the desire and reap the benefits of the bout between the path of least resistance and the combat of self-expression; a gladiatorial battle royale in which the winners are the ban’s drive and determination, and the listener’s sense of craft and heavy rock supply.
Serious Black’s Vengeance Is Mine is out now and available from AFM Records.
Ian D. Hall