The Black Maria are one of the newest bands to join the Victory roster and follow in the footsteps of a myriad of new bands who have penned deals in the last few months. On the basis of this record, it could easily be said that The Black Maria could be an astute piece of business. Rising from the ashes of Grade, Zyon and New Day Rising, there will certainly be media interest in them because of what certain members have done in the past. What I didn’t realise was that the band have been going for over 2 years – I wrongly assumed the band had recently started up and rushed out this CD. But it only takes a few listens to dispel that theory anyway because ‘Lead Us To Reason’ shows a hell of a lot of promise.
The Black Maria initially struck me as a cross between Alkaline Trio and a darker Spitalfield – there’s a dark twist but at the centre of it all is a band that heavily base their songs on melodies. Vocalist Chris Gray has a powerful voice and the guitars are high in the mix, which is expertly provided by the rising Mike Green. The end result is a record that is imaginative and clever, mixing pianos, organs and guitars with some thumping basslines. While The Black Maria aren’t a million miles away from Grade, I don’t think there’s a genuine case for sidling the band with the ‘ex-Grade‘ tag for too long. Songs such as ‘Betrayal’ and ‘The Momento’ are very impressive indeed, setting The Black Maria up so they can make a name for themselves.
Bands like Taking Back Sunday and Hawthorne Heights have sold a lot of records for Victory in the last year and there’s a good chance The Black Maria will go on to emulate part of that success. This record is a very solid release and is certainly one of the label’s better records of recent times. There’s enough to sing along to, yet this record never crosses over into the realms of pop – it’s dark and mysterious and a very good listen. Highly recommended.
www.theblackmaria.com
Victory Records
Paul