Black Moth return to crush their contemporaries…
Review by Mark Granger
Release date: 15 September 2014
When Black Moth released The Killing Jar two years ago, their take on stoner metal stood out a mile in what is a densely populated and sometimes over saturated genre. This was, by the bands admission, helped greatly by the presence of Jim Sclavunos (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The Cramps, Grinderman) in the producer’s seat. He has been referred to as the sixth Moth by singer Harriet Bevan and he’s returned for album number two. Combine this with the fact that Bevan has claimed the album contains songs about ‘balloon fetishism, self-immolation and phallic fungi’ and it means the band has no excuse: Condemned To Hope has to blow The Killing Jar plum out of the water. And by gum, it does.
Taking the heavy riffage and gothic overtones of their debut, Black Moth have twisted it into something altogether smarter, slicker and catchier without once compromising what they’re about. Opener ‘Tumbleweave’ starts things of in fine fashion, a fantastically heavy song with a catchy as hell riff and melody peppered with wry lyrics delivered in Bevan’s unique style and it’s this that make the album what it is. Black Moth are not afraid to write about anything they want and this honesty mixed with humour is something that Black Moth do extremely well.
The album is never boring because the band is unafraid of mixing up the styles on the album, ‘White Lies’ being a prime example being almost Ramones like in its simplicity. ‘Red Ink’ is another song that doesn’t rely on the stoner genre they are most associated with and has shades of bands like My Bloody Valentine and the country twang that permeates the otherwise doomaliciousness of ‘Slumber With The Worm’ shows yet another side to this ever growing band. Black Moth stood out with their debut but Condemned To Hope should see them stand on and crush many of their contemporaries, all with a wry smile etched on their faces.
8 out of 10
Track Listing:
- Tumbleweave
- Set Yourself Alight
- Looner
- The Undead King Of Rock And Roll
- The Last Maze
- White Lies
- Red Ink
- Room 13
- Stinkhorn
- Slumber With The Worm
- Condemned To Hope
