From across the pond in London, comes a heavy metal band (according to the label, but I’ll get to that in a minute) named BlackHole, and their debut album, Dead Hearts. Having never heard of them prior to being asked to review their album, I figured I’d find out more about the band. Come to find out, if you’ve ever heard of Gallows, then you might have already been anticipating this cd. Richard Carter, the vocalist for BlackHole is the brother of Frank Carter, vocalist for Gallows. BlackHole definitely stands on their own ground, which they’re bound to destroy with this stone-cold, solid cd.

The album is a breath of extremely fresh air. Now, the label classified BlackHole as Heavy Metal, but don’t let that fool you, because there’s a mix of a few genres on this album. There are some punk elements, rock elements, and definitely a strong helping of heavy metal. The elements all work together to come at you hard and fierce, but leave you wanting more! Also, the album is only about 40 minutes long, but let me tell you, it’s 40 minutes of pure awesomeness. Is that even a word? I don’t care, because it fits!

The album opens up with “Don’t Cry,” a rather short song, but quite a powerhouse! It has a very definitive drum beat throughout to keep the head bobbin’, as well as some vicious guitar riffs that take hold of you and don’t let go till the song is over. This song is absolutely great! The only problem is that you find yourself on the second track before you even know what hit you. In fact on my first play through, I listened to this song a second time before proceeding to “If Only.”

The third song, “Scared to Change,” really stood out as a highlight on this album. Another fist punching song! There’s a certain angst throughout this cd, and it’s absolutely great. “Scared to Change” exemplifies how great Richard’s voice is. His vocals are a perfect match to the grinding guitar riffs and fast-paced percussion throughout the whole album.

One thing that I’d like to point out is that each song stands alone. There are aspects on each song that are different than any other song on the album, which provides for a really entertaining listen. As I listened to the album all the way through, I found myself making mental notes of segments that I would like to go back and listen to again, which helped to solidify how truly kick-ass Dead Hearts is as an album.

A few other highlights for me on this album were: “Tides” with its awesome guitar riffs, “Forever” for its pure energetic anger, and “We are the Dead Hearts” because it’s one of the best ending songs on a cd to come my way in a long time.

This is another one of those cd’s that you come across and could just listen to over and over again. It’s a strong dose of raw, heavy, and high energy that definitely deserves a listen. Truly a hidden gem that deserves the airplay to put BlackHole on the map. Reviewer’s Suggestion: Give it a listen, and listen to it LOUD!

5.0/5