Black Tar Superstar - The Black Flame (Album Review)

Ohio based doom/sludge metal band Black Tar Superstar released their "The Black Flame" album the other day. I think it's absolutely fantastic! It's fifty minutes of just deep dark fuzzy sludgy mastery. I definitely enjoyed their " ...Old Gods, Awaken!" album that came out last year, but I feel they've grown as musicians and gotten even better since then. I especially liked the track "One Eyed God", which is a bit slower paced that some of the others, and is instrumental for half the song. "Black Hymn" is also a great track, which sounds almost hypnotic, and like you're gonna summon a demon by listening to it. Which I'm sure was their goal. The vocals on that song also sounded a little different than the rest of the album, they're for awhile a bit cleaner, and then also more growly and heavy, and it features an absolutely killer guitar solo. "Shadow Walkers" really stands out because it has some acoustic guitar work in the intro, which I definitely did not expect, but absolutely love. The final track on the album "Blut Im Sand" also is a bit different than the rest of the album. It features some backing vocals, which are absent from the rest of the album, some of the lyrics are in German, and it's a lot more slow and melodic in some sections than the other tracks. I think it's also my favorite track on the whole album. It feels a little more complex than some of the others, and has much more variety to the sound, and really shows how versatile their sound can be. The ending of the song has what sounds like a battle horn or something. It's just so good! I enjoyed this album immensely, and I definitely recommend giving it a listen. ~Gangis

Image Credit: Album cover for "The Black Flame" by Black Tar Superstar on Artillery Music Group.