My thoughts on “BAD END”, the latest digital single from BLACKNAZARENE.

 
Release Date: October 31st 2020

Tracklist

1. BAD END

You know what, its been really interesting/cool/etc to see the Idol scene adapt to the challenges of the past year. Everything is online now, for the most part anyway, and in a lot of cases groups have even been letting us foreign lot take part in it all too. Livestreams, slightly more accessible merchandise, digital music streaming, it really is a good time to be a fan of this stuff…providing all of your favorite groups haven’t disbanded over the last 10 months like some of mine have anyway.

BLACKNAZARENE are a bit of an anomaly in that regard in that they haven’t really embraced the digital revolution quite as much as some of their peers have. Instead they seem to be fairly content doing what they’re doing under their own power, though granted they did have a bit of an operational change earlier in the year which probably threw things for even more of a loop than they otherwise would have been. Still, it’s interesting to see who is doing what and how well it is or isn’t working out for them.

All that said, this is the second time I’m featuring BLACKNAZARENE on the site in recent months with their latest digital single “BAD END” following on from and complimenting “The beginning” (review here) rather nicely from a song title standpoint at least. The second digital offering from the group’s current system looks to follow a strong showing from their previous release and if I can play even a small part in perhaps gaining them an extra foreign fan or two along the way then that would be pretty cool too. Right then, let’s see what they’ve got in store for us on this outing shall we?

Things get off to a pretty promising start, with the track’s gothic tinged Rock instrumental providing a familiar but still very compelling atmosphere before the guitars launch into a blistering riff assault on the ears. A more melodic element is brought in with the introduction of vocals into the track, which soothes things a little bit while still maintaining that light gothic vibe thanks to the tone and cadence in which the members of BLACKNAZARENE are delivering their lines. It’s a bit of a fight between the instrumental and the vocals at times I have to say but I think there’s a good enough balance between both sides during the verses and when we get to the choruses and things are able to get into full flow that’s really when the track starts to come into its own in my opinion. The performances are dynamic, melodic and perhaps most importantly of all catchy and the guitar solos that transition the track back into the verses are another bright highlight of what was already shaping up to be a pretty impressive offering from BLACKNAZARENE. Structurally things are kept fairly simple but the end product is what’s most important and we’ve got a really good one here with enough flair and vocal hooks more than please most listeners. You don’t need to over complicate things if you manage to execute what you’re doing well and that’s certainly what happened here. A few well thought out verses, a catchy chorus and a nice crescendo to end things off on is all you really need. Less is more and all that.

I personally think “BAD END” is pretty unflattering title for what is quickly becoming one of my favorite songs from the BLACKNAZARENE discography. Though I suppose with the recent departure of Aiku it is somewhat fitting in a rather unfortunate way. Still, this style of music is something that I know for a fact appeals to quite a lot of people so the future should still be looking pretty bright in the medium term for a group that I personally think should be much more popular both domestically and abroad than they currently are.

What do I know though, I just write about this stuff all day. In any case, I hope 2021 is able to bring a bit more good fortune for, as well as new music from BLACKNAZARENE as I think that’s something the group could definitely do with a lot more of if it’s going to be as entertaining to listen to as this digital single was for me. Maybe a mini-album or EP to collect these digital offerings along with a couple of other tracks could be something that’s in our future. I think that would be a pretty cool thing to do myself personally.