Dark Black
Sellsword

March 2010
Released: 2009, Stormspell Records
Rating: 4.0/5
Reviewer: Luxi Lahtinen

If you like the NWOBHM style, then don´t turn your head away. Oregon-based Dark Black are masters of their art when it comes to warming up this aforementioned style through their own stuff. Dark Black has been around since 2004, and released one 5-track EP (THE BARBARIAN´S HAMMER) in 2005 thus far.



The band´s debut full-length album, SELLSWORD, released by Stormspell Records respectively as a limited edition of 500 copies, is the kind of heavy metal release that possibly cannot be ignored by the lovers of NWOBHM sound. Listening to this album brings you way back to the early 80s when bands from Maiden to Diamond Head to Samson to Mercyful Fate and so on ruled the world of heavy metal from Europe to the U.S.A. to Canada to Australia and so forth. The songs are filled with lots of fine dynamics; great, compelling riffs and hooks, excellent soloing - and I would say on the top of them all, Tim´s a bit falsetto type of vocals that simply make you feel totally hooked. Some people have compared his voice to Brad Delp from Boston, and I cannot see any reason to disagree with this fitting enough comparison. Tim actually does sound like a twin brother of Brad; his voice is so similar to Brad´s that it makes you to re-check the credits on the CD sleeve all over again just to make sure they are not one and the same guy.



As this CD is limited to 500 copies only, I also feel an urgent need to limit my shameless praising about this release to less than 500 words, as far as this review is concerned anyway. No matter how many words I use to praise this record, it does not change the fact SELLSWORD is absolutely worth purchasing. Just try to remember, this is ´only´ a limited run of 500 copies, so if I were you, I would act fast… ;o)