Album Review: Black Talon – Scenes of Agony
Reviewed by Gareth Pugh
Well, this is a real treat for the new year, a new album from Scottish thrashers Black Talon, a band I have been following for almost a decade now. Not the most prolific of bands, but I’d prefer quality over quantity any day of the week, and quality is what you get from these guys, with both the debut album ‘Endless Realities’ and follow-up EP ‘Existential’, and now album number two ‘Scenes of Agony’ is here, let’s see if the quality control is still intact.
If you’re unfamiliar with Black Talon, they are a thrash band, but unlike the plethora of blackened thrash that has saturated the market recently they plough a much more technical and melodic furrow. There’s no shouty, harsh vocals here, Johnny Steele’s voice, as well as being unique, are also full of melody, the closest metal vocalist I can think of for comparison, would be Scott Holderby from Mordred, although that’s still not quite correct. Song arrangements are also cut from a different cloth than their current peers, Rory Strachan (Guitars) and Eddie Campbell (Bass) combine to provide a fresh, twisting, aggressive, dynamic glut of riffs, sometimes the bass and guitar work together in tandem, whilst as other moments they seem to be at loggerheads, but whichever path they choose, the end result is to serve the song.
Starting with an ominous and growing intro, the title track is a brooding yet forceful brute, riffs spitting back and forth, and the composition shifting from slow and chunky to super-fast in the blink of an eye. ‘Cryptocracy’ is crisp and to the point, sharp riffs and a pounding rhythm from Dave Taylor on the drums. Although I love the shorter more immediate thrashers such as ‘Killing Time’ and ‘Not Meant to Last, my preferred tracks are when the band goes a bit more complex and progressive, such as the nine minute ‘Isolation’ with its many layers and intricacies, starting softly and building, by the end it’s a raging ball of belligerence. My absolute personal favourite though is ‘The Bastard Gene’, a seven-minute smorgasbord of ideas, with massive riffs and hooks and really epitomises what this band is all about, the rolling sheets of riffage towards the end is just ridiculously heavy.
Sound wise the production is superb, recorded in several studios across Edinburgh, the rhythm guitars have lots of bite while the bass is thick and chunky, working in tandem with the drums while the leads cut through effectively and the vocals sit nicely in the mix.
To answer my own question, the quality control has been continued, and ‘Scenes of Agony’ is exactly what music should be; emotional, challenging, exhilarating, and rewarding, and ticks all the right boxes.
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