Black Cross "Widows Bloody Widows" CD
[Initial]
Mysteriously packaged as what initially appears to be a new record, this is actually a collection of the band's recorded output under their former moniker of Black Widows, along with a few other odds and ends. Included are the "Roll Up Your Sleeves" 7" and "Black Widows Stops a Bleeding Heart" 10", plus various outtakes, B-sides, etc. Honestly, I've never gotten into this band, and this collection doesn't change my mind. Don't get me wrong, they're competent, and I don't dislike 'em at all... I just don't get too excited over it. "House of Light" is an outtake from "Art Offensive" with gruffer vocal tradeoffs and a harder hitting disposition that kicks ass, but the "ex-member factor" of this band just doesn't pull any weight for me. The songs are just a little boring, and the recording's often just not right either. "A Feast of Snakes" is a scorching 45-second ripper from the B-side of the "Screaming" 7", and the aptly titled "Peking Dub" is an unreleased cut from that same session (using some weird clean guitars and dub-ish influences, though darker - sort of an improv sounding thing). The last song is an unreleased cover by Spiked Bracelet called "Wombat". The production's alright on everything but the "Roll Up Your Sleeves" 7", which is way too thin and has overly loud vocals. I like the sound of the rhythm section (especially the drums), and the midrange-y abrasiveness of the guitars is okay by me most of the time as well. I fucking love the design here. The cover brandishes the album title in Sabbath-esque letters to match the Sabbath-esque record name in metallic red foil, and everything else is done in high contrast black and white with some gray. There are some slick looking band photos, handwritten lyrics (actually almost all of the text is handwritten), etc. The lyrics are a blend of personal and political topics, but they're never specific, just suggestive and open. "When those who govern lie rise up rise up when they stand in the way of good rise up rise up throne is filled with snakes and fools drinking blood from our suicide wrists we will rise." In the end I'm not really clear on the need for this disc as it only contains 24 damn minutes of material, a good chunk of which is still in print I believe. But either way, I mean, they probably should've waited to put this out until there was a little more content floating around to at least give the listener 40 minutes of music or so. Oh well. The cover looks sweet and fans of the band might be down for this if they don't mind sifting through tracks that they've probably already got in their collections. (6/10)
Running time - 24:21, Tracks: 13
[Notable tracks: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, House of Light, The Bean and Those Like Him in New York, 11:59 Answering the Call]
Initial Records - http://www.initialrecords.com

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