Black Sun is a blues-rock band from Bangalore. Three incredibly talented young boys, including an exceptionally talented guitarist, like exceptionally talented. Their music has this awesome feel to it, especially the solos. And the catchy choruses. This is also one of those bands that use their bass player very well. Handling the rhythm duties when the guitarist gets lost in one of his many guitar solos. Additionally, they won the best college band category at SF'10, so you should know they're extremely good.
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| Photo Courtesy Paldron Tenzin |
That's Nirmal Murali on Guitars,
Nithin Seshadri on Bass and Vocals and
Aditya Vishwanathan on the Drums. In left-to-right order, of course.
I've seen them live twice, and they've both been some extremely trippy fucking experiences. I like their on-stage persona. Vocalist keeps talking to the crowd, but somehow manage to stay away from the retarded jokes that a lot of vocalists seem to be making these days. The guitarist is extremely good, it's like you can get lost in the way his hand works the fretboard. But he should probably stop headbanging while he plays though, that's really not a pretty sight. But what I really like about the band is that I can tell the bassline, you know? It doesn't get drowned ouvt or anything.
Anywho, they have five songs in their arsenal. Enough to churn an EP out. But for now, their Reverbnation page has three songs up. The production is not very good at all. And I have a sneaking suspicion that it may have been live, but in that case, it's actually quite fine, cause live recordings seriously suck. Either way, they opened both the shows I went to with:
1.) Old Monk
If you start with this song, then you can immediately tell exactly why they call themselves blues-rock. The influences are very apparent. And the lyrics are about something very close and personal to us all - alcohol (I first thought it was about spirituality). The reason why I think this recording may have been live is because there's times when the vocalist speaks to what I think is the crowd. Like for example "How're you guys doing tonight? / Oh you guys lookin' so good man / Apart from you". I seriously lol'd at that. Classic. No prejudice to the hundred other memorable guitar moments that this song presents to us, but the super bomb part comes at 2:30, which "is the part where you headbang with the Black Sun", starts with a killer riff, gradually turns to a face-melting solo. Absolutely brilliant. And fucking intense too. Amazing way to end a song.
PS - Yes, I have, I have heard of the Old Monk. Thanks!
2.) Wheel Of Time
As a first impression, I initially thought it was the weakest track of the three, until 1:29, when all music except the bass stops (and the bassline is extremely groovy here), and we have the headbang with the Black Sun bit again, but here instead of an intense riff-followed-by-solo, we have what seems to me like a proper breakdown. Only a fool would disobey the command of "Headbang with me". Little bit of a chorus after that, then the crazy guitar works are back with the groovy bassline. Good times. But the real solo comes in around 3:10, little bit of a chorus again, then the solo comes back, this time even crazier. So what is that, like 3 guitar solos in this song? Holy cow!
3.) Killing The Pain
This is my favourite of the three. I'm not sure exactly what it is about the song that makes me prefer it over the other two, it could be the extremely sing-along chorus (the others are too, but this one is just a little more so), or it could be the little pause after "You gotta feel my...". It's probably the pause coupled with the sing-alongness, I mean, it's all in the chorus right? Watch out for the guitar solo here, starts at 2:02, and it's very different from the soloing in the other two songs, much more relaxed, more soulful. I kinda miss the solos from the other two songs though, it's like the signature Black Sun style.
Who Will Like It? Fans of guitar virtuosos. Rum-drinkers.
Who Will Not Like It? People who don't like substandard production. The production needs a lot more help.
Where to Find It? Reverbnation
Free Download? Nope.
Lyrics? Nope.
They have two more songs, one about a stripper and another about a bus (or was it bicycle? I'm not sure, sorry.). I hereby end my review with the usual promise of updating the entry as and when they upload new songs on their page.
General Links
Reverbnation: http://www.reverbnation.com/blacksun123
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