The self-titled debut CD from Portland, Oregon's Black Elk is noisy and heavy, but also has some melodic moments. The band's sound blends elements of metal, hardcore punk, doom, psychedelic, post hardcore and sludge.
Black Elk is a clever mix of catchy riffs and dissonant noise. You'll hear doomy guitar parts and think you're in for a doom metal song, but then the band will speed the tempo up into a hardcore punk frenzy. The songs have a lot of ebb and flow along with numerous tempo and intensity changes, which makes for a very diverse sounding CD.
The vocals on this CD are also diverse. There's everything from calm spoken word vocals to aggressive spoken word vocals to shrieking to singing. This is a loud, raw and aggressive CD, but also has a decent amount of melody and hooks, which is an appealing combination.
