Album Details

• Artist: Black River
• Album: Black N Roll
• Label: Armoury
• Year of Release: 2010
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: patchen on 2010-07-26

Well, I'll be Jim Dandy! Black River, straight outta Poland (though the songs are in English), revives good old fashioned mid-70s Cock Rock, with a slight dab of grunge on the vocals. "Black N Roll" is a no frills, power chord burping slab of greasy hardness.

Starting off with the muscular "Barf Bag," a "Lucky in Hell" that channels Foghat and Nazareth (in good ways!) and a title track that echoes Danzig, Black River never let up. "Breaking the Wall" is a slow G n' R type epic jam, with "Like a Bitch" and "Jumping Queeny Flash" (get it?) rounding out the classics. Missteps, though few, include "Too Far Away" and "Loaded Weapon," which come across as by the book, which is to say lame, Nu-Metal. The record closes with "Young N' Drunk," which oddly combines the sloppy driving assault of the best tunes, and some more stylized trappings of the worst.

In all, though, "Black n Roll" is a blast. Black River know their classic rock, know how to have fun with its tropes, and know how to rock hard and reckless, like the best bands. Not sure if they will tour outside Europe, but this would be one to check out live.

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