“Cruel Melody”Black Light BurnsGENRE: RockLABEL: I AM: Wolfpack***
A Wikipedia search for “Black Light Burns” will yield an in-depth biography of front man Wes Borland, a former guitarist in rap-metal juggernaut Limp Bizkit in the late 90s.
A 2005 return to Limp Bizkit resulted in The Unquestionable Truth LP. Borland’s participation in LB for another album was in exchange for a contract binding Geffen’s support for his then side project, and now main focus Black Light Burns. Joined by several notables in the hard-rock scene, including John Freese (Nine Inch Nails, The Vandals, A Perfect Circle) and Danny Lohner (Nine Inch Nails, A Perfect Circle), Wes’ project was heavily supported by producer Ross Robinson’s new label “I AM: Wolfpack.”
The album’s opening track “Mesopotamia” strays further from any other cut off the album, sidetracking to an electronica influenced vein a la late Rob Zombie. The vocals are very repetitive in melody and almost chant-like. ‘Animal’ showcases an incorporation of fuzzed-out synthesizers which drive the song along with the thumping bass drum of John Freese. While his singing is far from virtuosic, this track highlights Wes Borland’s ability to write catchy vocal hooks.
Currently released to the dogs, “Lie,” is the first single off of Cruel Melody. This song is also heavily electronica-influenced in the drum department, similar sounding to NIN circa The Downward Spiral. The song has a great emotional crescendo that takes the tune into its final chorus via an awesome funk-metal riff by Borland. This track displays Wes’ eclectic style of part-writing; someone needs to pull Tom Morello from his “Night-Watching” duties and get him in a band with Mr. Borland, the two could be dynamic together.
“Coward” is also a fairly radio friendly cut that comes complete with some keyboard dabbling by Borland himself. The title-track “Cruel Melody” has a swinging jazz-beat that really serves as a breath of fresh air after the first four tracks. The hook is fabulous and Wes Borland continues to show that he is not just a guitarist, but a fine song-writer.
“The Mark” enters that industrial-metal vein once again with a great metallic riff that could sever an extremity; however, at this point of the album Wes’ vocals have hit their creative peak and it seems he has difficulty diversifying his melodies. “I Have a Need” was actually written with Limp Bizkit before their final disbandment and features drums by John Otto and Sam Rivers on bass. The track was cut from “The Unquestionable Truth” to keep the record very metal and without a hint of tranquility.
“One of Yours” opens up with some great instrumentation and borrows much influence from progressive-rock icons Tool, spoken heroes of Borland.
One of the final tracks, “I Am Where It Takes Me” really embraces a chilling progressive vibe not unlike Radiohead; perhaps it is his use of electronica with his rock roots. The tune features a female vocalist whose voice firmly binds in harmony with Borland’s — a much needed tactic as the album really lacks strong vocal harmony.
All in all, Black Light Burns to the 3rd degree. Wes Borland has crafted a strong debut album and has really proved that he can independently succeed as a song-writer. Much of the album is catchy when it needs to be; however, the instrumentation and production is strong enough to stand alone. While Borland had a large part of many aspects of the record, his guitar-playing could have shined more. Hopefully, he will set his next record apart from “Cruel Melody” by going back to the basics and writing strong guitar-based songs, rather than experimenting with so many studio-production techniques.
