Stranger Fruit

One of the best black metal acts today.

A strange combination on paper, deep South Black musical tradition, blues stomp and gospel, fused with black metal. I like both styles separately, so the pairing itself was never going to be an issue for me.

The issue, such as it is, comes down to execution rather than concept. Not every track lands with the same strength, the quality shifts noticeably from song to song, and it doesn't always come through as powerfully as the idea behind it deserves.

But as a whole, I like this. It's not perfect, but it's interesting and curious enough that it kept pulling me back for repeat listens, and that counts for a lot.

Bit of a letdown. The genre descriptors "Black Metal, Avantgarde, Gospel" got my hopes up, but turns out that all averages out to "The second coming of The Black Keys, with a little extra spice in the production"

Favourite songs: Gravedigger's Chant, Ship on Fire, You Ain't Coming Back, Servants, Don't You Dare, We Can't Be Found, Fire of Motion

Least favourite songs: Row Row

4/5

3.5