Posted on: February 19, 2009 Posted by: anfnewsacct Comments: 0

Autumn Black plays a hard-hitting metal-influenced style that is present from the beginning of their “Beneath the Shadows”. The band hits hard with “Salvation”, even going and breaking the mold when they do not include an “emo” singer to balance their compositions. This makes the resulting track much more dark and remorseless; Autumn Black is here to create hard music, and not to get their albums in Hot Topic. This is the same style of music that Autumn Black hits their listeners with during “Ashes”. There is no immediate comparisons that individuals can make with Autumn Black and other bands.

The darkness component of their music is comparable to Avenged Sevenfold, but A7X has never gotten this hard. There are equal amounts of hardcore, metal, and black metal during the compositions on “Beneath The Shadows”. This does not mean that the band is without any harmonies; a song like “Ashes” gets into a very harmonic groove a few times during its four minute runtime. Even when a lighter set of vocals do come into the mix (as is the case with “Nameless,) Autumn Black ensures that it is not a driving force during the track. There are actually three distinct sets of vocals on this track, and these vocalists further differentiate the band’s sound from the rest of the acts currently on the market doing similar types of music.

The band is able to craft track after track that will keep individuals sitting on the edges of their sheets; even when the band goes into a slower style (as is the case with “In The Name of a Rose”, the interplay between the heavenly vocals and the darker guitar lines during that track will keep individuals focused on the music to come from the band. The band drops that style fairly quickly, opting instead to fire forth with swirling guitars and double bass drumming, meaning that the “lighter” style was used to highlight the brutality of this newer part. Each of the songs on “Beneath the Shadows” has something for listeners, and the band’s energy increases at all the right times. The band may not be big yet, but give them a few more years and they will be playing with bands like the aforementioned Avenged Sevenfold and even bands like System of a Down. Pick this album up and you can say that you knew the band before they broke it big!

Top Tracks: Beneath the Shadows, Ashes

Rating: 6.6/10

[JMcQ]

Autumn Black – Beneath the Shadows / 2006 Throwdown / 12 Tracks / http://www.autumnblackmusic.com / http://www.throwdownrecords.com / Reviewed 14 October 2006

Leave a Comment