BLACK HAWK
“THE END OF THE WORLD”
Album Review By Rick Tilley
7/10
Black Hawk are a German Heavy Metal band and listening to them they really couldn’t be anything else and that, my friends, is a good thing! First formed in 1981, it wasn’t until 1989 that they actually released their first official EP ‘First Attack’ This was followed by a demo ‘5 By 5’ in 1995 and then the band split up in 1997. That’s hardly prolific is it? However in 2005 Black Hawk decided to reform and since then they have done a much better job of keeping their name in the loop by releasing five full length albums, the last of which was ‘A Mighty Metal Axe’ released in 2013!
Fast forward to 2017 and in May they released album number six ‘The End Of The World’ and it’s a good and solid forty five minutes of music without being ground breaking or exceptional. ‘Return Of The Dragon’ is the first thing you’ll hear, a slow, brooding instrumental introduction piece that you just get the feeling is going to lead into something faster and first track proper ‘Streets Of Terror’ doesn’t let you down. Wailing guitars, good riff, double bass drumming, audible bass and great solo all combine to make it a good opener. Vocalist Udo Bethke isn’t Michael Kiske but he possesses a good enough voice for Heavy/Power Metal of this nature. ‘Killing For Religion’ is next and it’s a mid-paced thumper that sounds a bit like U.D.O. the band. Actually Accept/U.D.O. is a pretty good reference point. Throw in Grave Digger, a little Gamma Ray and a few NWOBHM/Heavy Rock influences and that’s what Black Hawk are all about.
Guitarists Wolfgang Tewes and Günny Kruse are the musicians here that raise the quality of the tracks. Their solos are very good indeed and the production and mix add to that. Other tracks that piqued my interest were ‘Ruler Of The Dark’, ‘Scream In The Night’, ‘Legacy Of Rock’ (much more of a rocky number, with a simple but very likeable riff) and final track ‘Dragonride’17’ which is a re-recording of the title track from Black Hawk’s 2007 album!
All in all ‘The End Of The world’ ticks all the requisite boxes and Black Hawk certainly don’t let you down, but with the plethora of bands playing this type of music extremely well, especially in Germany, then there is a possibility of them getting overlooked. Black Hawk’s musicianship isn’t in question but it would help their cause if they could write some slightly bigger hooks!
TRACKLIST
Return Of The Dragon
Streets Of Terror
Killing For Religion
What A World
Ruler Of The Dark
The End Of The World
Scream In The Night
Legacy Of Rock
Just Like In Paradise
Dancing With My Demons
Dragonride’17
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