Black Trip - Shadowline

Published August 25 2015

*=Staff's pick	Die With Me Danger* Shadowline Berlin Model 32 Over The Worldly Walls* Clockworks* Rooms Subvisual Sleep Sceneries* The Storm Coming Home

Genre	Hard Rock	Joseph Tholl	Vocals
Tracks	11	Peter Stjärnvind	Guitar
Running time	42 Min.	Sebastian Ramstedt	Guitar
Label	Steamhammer/SPV	Johan Bergebäck	Bass
Release	August 28, 2015	Jonas Wikstrand	Drums
Country	Sweden	-	Keyboard
Producer	Nicke Andersson
Similar artists	---

My history of finding great retro bands is rather scarce or should I even assert that it's close to non-existent? Swedish outfit Black Trip however definitely took me by surprise with its great 2013 debut record, Goin' Under. Almost 2 years later it's time to give this group another go and as soon as I heard the initial tones of this new record, I knew that my world, in terms of retro hard rock, would possibly be a little bit turned upside down again.

Shadowline undoubtedly follows most of the routines of its predecessor and once again the band manages to come out with really good songs, an overall stunning appearance and a nice framing. If today's recording techniques and audio qualities weren't taken into account, this record could easily be mistaken for being somewhere around 35 years old. The explicit sound of the guitars, the bass' distinct room in the mixing and Joseph Tholl's cool and emotive vocal performance are all contributing factors that make this unit truly capable of capturing most of the vibe of lost times of music.

I think that this record is totally worth giving an honest try if you like the raw and untamed sound of the first half of the 80's and maybe occasionally all the way back to the early 70's too. As you have already figured out, I normally dismiss the attempts to come out too similar to your old idols, but Black Trip does it so damn good that I can't resist the urge to listen to this effort over and over again.