Blacklands

I really enjoyed this band's debut, so I was stoked for this, especially with the cool title and being on the Van label - I was looking for this to be an even darker, meaner old-school Doom album from this up and coming band.

As it turns out, not so much. Blacklands is an oddly restrained album that throttles back on the heaviness and goes for a much more mainstream rock-and-roll sound. The recording is weak, the vocals are boring, and the songs all sound tremendously similar and stick to a tedious 4/4 groove. Nothing on this album surprised or excited me, and it was largely a chore to sit through. Highly disappointing.