  
3 years on from one of the most promising debut
rock records to grace the industry from musicians
of such youth and talent, Black Tide are back
in 2011 with their highly anticipated follow up
album “Post Mortem”. All members of
the band were under the age of 20 with vocalist
& guitarist Gabriel Garcia being merely 14
years of age which is tremendously impressive;
now Gabriel is now 17 years old and has matured
over the years the obvious questions are has this
affected the music? Many fans are hoping now that
the band would expand on the fist pumping, infectious
hard rock style filled with chunky riffs that
has kept us interested for 3 long years; that
dream has just been shattered into millions of
pieces.
All of the exciting ways we’ve dreamt this
band of following up “Light From Above”
are dead and buried; flying out of a pond including
bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica and Dio and
jumping straight into the ocean filled with band
after band of mainstream metalcore success (Most
notably Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet for my Valentine
and “Lead Sails and a Paper anchor”
Era Atreyu) which isn’t an uncommon move
these days as it’s an extremely popular
subgenre (I’m basically saying the band
has just sold out for popularity and money). It
irritates me because as disappointed as I am with
this new album, it’s so catchy that I can’t
get it out of my head!
Having mentioned Bullet For My Valentine, it is
essential now to point out that their vocalist
Matt Tuck lends his talents to the song “Ashes”.
With this specific track it’s so similar
to BFMV’s style to the point where if you
put it on one of their albums and nobody would
notice it wasn’t one of their own. If it
wasn’t for the distinctive soloing style
of the guitarists then all sense of what the band
once was would be completely lost but for now
there is still a slight glimmer of hope amidst
the anguish. I think Garcia’s age has to
come into play here because at 14 you are still
influenced highly by the opinions of your older
piers but by 17 you begin developing your own
tastes and opinions which is probably the main
reason for the change.
“Bury Me” is the most infectious song
I’ve heard in a long time; the lyrics are
so catchy, the music is incredibly bouncy and
upbeat, it’s an instant classic even if
the lyrics aren’t really the most original
they still work. “Honest Eyes” and
“Walking Dead Man” are in the same
style but not quite on the level that “Bury
Me” is as I have proven by having friends
singing the song after having heard it but once.
They have tried to push it a bit, due to them
having the different experiences with styles but
I mean I’m not going to try and even convince
anyone its original but due to their age this
could be a laid foundation with copious amounts
of experimentation to be had.
It’s actually extremely annoying because
I really want to hate this album due to the fact
I was disappointed beyond all belief when I discovered
they’d changed styles. However I just can’t
get some of these songs out of my head; when I’m
driving around or just going about my day I find
myself singing them to myself. I do have a pretty
positive comment about the difference between
the songs, seems they’ve included a broad
range to ensure there is something for all of
their possible new fans; shame it doesn’t
include their original fan base. All I can say
is after this it is really almost impossible to
predict where the band are heading next and how
long it will take them this time around to get
there.
After all of the more upbeat and the heavy tracks
there are still some lighter themed tracks; “Fight
Till The Bitter End” is literally a slower
and less distorted version of the style of the
more energetic tracks to give it more of a gentle
feel where as “Take It Easy” is still
as bouncy but the vocals seem to keep it calmer
than the rest with a gentle tone. “Into
The Sky” is completely acoustic until the
last section and sticks out like a sore thumb
alongside all of the other songs as it really
just doesn’t fit in, in fact the last 3
tracks aren’t the best; feels like some
quick writing to just finish the album off because
there’s no feeling or heart in it at all.
3.5/5
Review by James Webb
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