Tag Archives: blackfield

Features, PiercingMetal Says

PiercingMetal’s “Best Of” 2009: The Music Part 2

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Hello again, and welcome back to the continuing “Best Of” 2009 lists. This is chapter two of my favorite albums for the year since I had so many. Don’t worry, I loved a lot of concerts, books and videos but those will have to get their own chapter as well. With this installment I have also featured those releases which were older albums that found a re-issue. I’ve never minded reviewing back catalog here on the website and as we head towards out fifth year in 2010 can only see that process continuing. Okay let’s take a look at the picks.

The Best Albums Of 2009 Continued:

Immortal “All Shall Fall” (Nuclear Blast Records): The Dark Gods of the frozen wastelands are back and shall take no prisoners. Welcome back gentleman, we’ve been waiting for this one for awhile.

Nile “Those Whom The Gods Detest” (Nuclear Blast Records): This angry little title only briefs you on the massive sound delivered by Nile on their latest. Could this be the bands magnum opus, one might think so after hearing it a couple of times. That’s good for the genre all around.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra “Night Castle” (Lava Records): It’s finally here and offers fans of the Symphonic Hard Rock orchestra a lot of cool treats. There are some covers and remakes on this one for the old Savatage crowd and a lot of new instrumentals and lyrical pieces that both amaze and inspire. Nice work.

The Smithereens “Tommy” (E1 Entertainment): Classic rockers re-do most of the amazing Rock Opera by The Who. Their renditions were solid and worthy of praise. Cool.

The Gathering “The West Pole” (Season Of Mist Records): Another band with some history and yet another new lead singer. Did it work out, well, yes it did indeed.

Chimaira “The Infection” (Ferret Music): Brutal, powerful and very, very heavy. This bands name breathes Metal and the music on this release is the proof in the pudding.

Them Crooked Vultures “Them Crooked Vultures” (Interscope Records): Another super group but this one features John Paul Jones…….JOHN PAUL JONES!!!!! Awesome stuffs.

Shadow’s Fall “Retribution” (Shadows Fall Records): Solid effort from these original leaders in the Nu-Metal field.

The Last Vegas “Whatever Gets You Off” (Eleven Seven Music): Really enjoyed the Trash/Sleaze Rock of these winners of the Guitar Player contest. I sense good and big things a coming for these boys.

White Wizzard “High Speed GTO” (Earache Records): Kicking it Old School never sounded so good.
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Music, Reviews

“NYC: Live In NYC” by Blackfield

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Artist: Blackfield
Title: “NYC (Blackfield Live In NYC)”
Label: Kscope Records
Release Date: 9/15/2009
Genre: Melodic Progressive Pop
Rating: 4.5/5

The show that this release originally hails from happened on a snowy night in NYC back in early 2007 and it was a fantastic night that I am happy to be able to tell people that I attended as well. The music of the key players Steven Wilson and Aviv Geffen were expanded upon by the incredible band that was backing them up and while those in the crowd knew full well that the set was being recorded for future use, the anticipation was extremely high for this to be released sooner rather than later. Lucky for all of the bands fans the official DVD release of the show came out later in the year and was a great way for all who attended to have a special memento and for those who did not to be reminded about what they missed again and again. Interestingly enough, we never saw a CD version of the concert until the special edition that we are discussing in this article and all I can say is “it’s about time”. The idea that no one was able to load this release onto their music players for all this time must seem rather absurd when one takes into account about all the myriads concert films that come out and have the audio version follow it by a month or two later while the Blackfield fanatics were forced to wait and wait, until now. I had to say that the audio CD sounds great and when played at the proper volume sounds like the band is right there in the room with you and I must admit that I enjoyed being able to have this music travel around with me on my music player and in the car stereo. The DVD that comes with the release is the same one that came out a couple of years ago and if you don’t already own this then you no longer have an excuse about waiting and must add this to your music purchasing list. There is a booklet inside that presents some candid images of the band as well as some professionally staged shots and a handful of photos from the performance itself. All in all, a very satisfying release that I was happy/impressed/relieved to find being given a special edition treatment. Below is our original review of the DVD release.
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Reviews, Videos

“NYC (Blackfield Live In NYC)” [DVD] by Blackfield

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Artist: Blackfield
Title: “NYC (Blackfield Live In NYC)”
Label: Snapper UK
Release Date: 11/6/2007
Genre: Melodic Progressive Pop
Rating: 4.5/5

If you weren’t already aware of this – the band Blackfield is the result of the creative energies from Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson and Israeli Alt-Rock star Aviv Geffen who joined forces to create material back around the year 2000. Their original plan was to do a simple EP but it ended up resulting in a full release in 2004 that even led to a follow up in 2007. The music that’s to be found on “Blackfield” and “Blackfield II” make these albums truly worthy additions to any fine CD collection. The reason for this is based on the group sounding entirely different from that of its members’ primary groups. With Blackfield you don’t merely get a side project that holds a ton of reference to that of Porcupine Tree and the work that Aviv does and instead the listener finds a breath of fresh air in the musical sense. While it’s Melodic Pop to some degree of the word it also has that Progressive and Alternative element to it and as result offers up some truly inspirational and thought provoking lyrical content. The bottom line is that it’s really enjoyable stuff and this DVD film “Blackfield Live in NYC” captures the group on a stormy winter’s night at the Bowery Ballroom. This is an intimate venue on the Lower East Side that holds just over 500 people and was truly the perfect room for this show to be filmed at. Having attended the performance I can confirm that the snow outside made travel difficult for everyone, it didn’t stop anyone and here we were at a performance that was sold out for many weeks in advance.
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Events, Reviews

Blackfield @ Bowery Ballroom (3/16/2007)

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I had only heard of Blackfield shortly before their recent CD “Blackfield II” and was intrigued about the project that featured Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson and Israeli Alternatiive superstar Aviv Geffen. New York City had been hit by a terrible snowstorm that day but that didn’t stop the crowd from assembling at the Bowery Ballroom with my associate Peter Parrella who would offer up his thoughts on the night. I tried my best to capture some moments in photos and you can see more by clicking their logo below. It will bring you to the main PiercingMetal.com site where the article resides. If it makes you sad for not attending, don’t sorry as the group was filming a DVD of the show that night for all to eventually enjoy.

Logo - Blackfield

Artist: Blackfield
Venue: The Bowery Ballroom (New York, NY)
Opener: Jordan Rudess
Date: 3/16/2007
Label: Atlantic Records

Blackfield’s performance at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom on March 16, 2007 was a crowd pleaser on so many levels that it’s hard to enumerate. Those who braved the sting of a late season sleet storm to hear this sold out show were treated not only to a tight, majestic performance by the headliners but also to a marvelous solo set by current Dream Theater and former Dregs keyboardist Jordan Rudess.

To begin the evening Rudess quietly took center stage, sat at his massive master keyboard (reportedly driving his piano sounds from “Ivory” software via his MacBook Pro), and proceeded to roll out streams of arpeggios from which emerged the melodic hallmarks of some of the most revered progressive bands of the previous few decades. His beautifully crafted suites and re-imaginings of classic King Crimson, Yes and Genesis tunes enthralled the audience peppered with Dream Theater fans. The crowd responded with gasps of appreciative glee as they recognized bits of “Court of the Crimson King”, “Carpet Crawlers”, “Supper’s Ready” or “And You and I”, that rose out of the waves of ornate piano work Rudess laid down. After the second piece he half jokingly asked “Do you recognize any of this/If so, feel free to sing along”, but few ventured to break the magic of the performance by vocalizing.
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Music, Reviews

“Blackfield II” by Blackfield

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Artist: Blackfield
Title: “Blackfield II”
Label: Atlantic Records
Release Date: 3/6/2007
Genre: Progressive Rock
Rating: 4/5

This second collaboration between Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson and Israeli alternative singer/songwriter Aviv Geffen is a solid follow up to their exceptional 2004, eponymously titled, debut album. In addition to Wilson and Geffen, the new recordings feature the talents of Tomer Z on drums, Seffy Efrati on Bass, and Daniel Salomon, a star in his own right in Israel, on piano.

Whereas collaborative efforts by established artists have the potential to turn into disjointed arm-wrestling tournaments, Blackfield II has the feel of a united band effort. Aviv and Steven’s musical sensibilities, as well as their voices, meld together like two brothers who have shared a record collection, albeit from worlds away. In fact, to view this as a “side project” for either would be unfairly dismissive of how powerful and beautiful these songs/recordings are.
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