Black Moth – The Killing Jar – Album Review

So here’s the deal: I’m not a huge fan of female-fronted rock / metal / [insert related genre here] bands, because let’s face it most of them are horrible singers and you can’t take them seriously. So you can imagine the face I made, when I realized that Black Moth’s new album “The Killing Jar” doesn’t feature the deep male vocals I was expecting to hear.

It surely wasn’t love at first hearing, but “The Killing Jar” offered something that caught my attention and made me listen to the album a couple of times. And every time I listened to the 10 songs featured on the album, I liked them even more. I don’t know exactly in which genre drawer I should put them. To me, their music is a brilliant mix between stoner, psychedelic and classic hard rock. Yes, “The Killing Jar” gets better and better and you don’t get bored, even if you’re listening to it for hours.

“The Killing Jar” will satisfy you with intense drumming, brilliant riffs and melodies that will stuck in your head! Black Moth’s Harriet Bevan is definitely not one of the untalented female vocalists I was talking about above. In fact, she has a remarkable voice and knows how to use it!

Also, there’s no dreamy intro on Black Moth’s debut. The album opener “The Articulate Dead” instantly grabs you by the balls. Don’t expect that the grip will loosen, ’cause all songs are really powerful and heavy. It’s just like Harriet sings in “Spit Out Your Teeth”: “I can’t let you go. I can’t let you go. I cannot let anything happen to you. You’re safe with me here. Stay with me here – and nobody evil or good will come near!”

Oh, and if you don’t feel the urge to play air drums, air guitar or air bass at least once while listening to the album, you should check if you’re still alive. Speaking of things that are either alive or dead: the artwork of “The Killing Jar”, created by the illustrator Vania Zouravliov, is beautiful. Zombie-like creatures gnawing at fresh flesh. Pretty appropriate, if you think of the latest news about people eating other people’s faces and guts, isn’t it?

All in all, “The Killing Jar” is a fresh and well-produced album, that will grow on you.

Dear Black Moth, thanks for being awesome and for proving to me that not all female-fronted bands are shit!

Track Listing

01 – The Articulate Dead
02 – Blackbirds Fall
03 – Banished But Blameless
04 – Spit Out Your Teeth
05 – Plague Of Our Age
06 – Chicken Shit
07 – Blid Faith
08 – Plastic Blaze
09 – Land Of The Sky
10 – Honey Lung