BLACKLIST – Afterworld (Profound Lore Records)

English:CD-review
  Van Muylem    29 oktober 2022

Featuring ten brand new tracks packed with the band's captivating and distinctive sound, "Afterworld" marks the band's first album in thirteen long years and seamlessly picks up where its critically acclaimed predecessor "Midnight of the Century" (2009) left off: Powerful and dark anthems, blending elements of shoegaze and heavy metal with coldwave in a fluid motion. Thematically, the upcoming album explores the possible meanings of love in a time of political and environmental collapse.


Fires of Black November gets carried by an acoustic guitar and a synth. Just as the title says it: it’s a dark November song that gets used as an opening track and tells you directly what to expect: dark and gloomy tracks with a cold wave touch! In this song you can also smell the fire from the campfire as it feels like written outside during a cold day in November with some friends whilst drinking heavy alcohol and trying to escape the rat race in the city. I heard some melancholia and really adore the global sound! Great work on this one!

The Final Resistance brings in drums and roaring guitars. The excellent melancholic vocals gets mixed with an 80’s touch and make it sounds as a really great post-punk/wave track! I feel a lot of fans will cherish this one!

Nightbound rocks a bit ore but keeps the dark side always close-by. I adore the guitar play and cherish the bewitching vocals brought in by Joshua Strachan. I also feel this can be excellent single material as it surely has the potential to make it!

No Good Answers starts with an excellent bass guitar and a global retro 80’s sound, like only The Cure could do it in the 80’s! Once again the melancholia and sadness takes me in! Somehow I feel this song could also make it on the dancefloor!

Behind the Veil of the Living World is a soft track that gets carried out by emotions and pathos, just like The Cure did in the 80’s on their darkest tracks! I also adore the drums, the floating guitar sound and the synth and off course the splendid vocals! I can even hear a woman doing some backings.

Pathfinder takes some time to grow on you, but once you are there it’s really an excellent Post-punk song! Once again it has this cool The Cure touch and a good tempo! The sadness reigns here!

Scarlet Horizon gets a warm feel from the start and has a typical 80’s floating guitar touch. The vocals sound very British. A lot of emotions reign here. I also adore the female backings! The end is even very catchy and might become a hit on stage!

A Stranger in This Century builds up slowly with a long intro. In the end it’s a sad cold wave kind of a ballad with a mystic touch.

Time to wake up with the roaring sound from In Shadow Light. The song sounds like a warm and sunny day in November (I know it’s something very rare and get’s cherished)! It’s the loveliest song on this album!

Lovers in Mourning mixes post-punk with a classic touch and haunting vocals! The retro touch is really top notch! I hear a potential single here! It’s also a really great closing track as it makes you long for way more! It was a great pleasure reviewing this one! I can feel the emotions, the passion, the lived through lyrics! Wow!

I know why I picked out this album after hearing one track that has been launched as a single and I never regret jumping in to start to work on the full album review! Every track is a professionally crafted to become a very expensive diamond! I hope this band goes on a long tour and visits Belgium too so that I can see them on stage! They deserve to reach out to the widest audience possible! You can count me in as a fan from now on!

BLACKLIST are:

Joshua Strachan: Vocals, Guitar, Synthesizer, Saxophone

Ryan Rayhill: Bass

Glenn Maryansky: Electronic and Acoustic Drums

James Minor: Guitar

Chad Dziewior: Guitar