Tuesday, September 6

Rusty Pacemaker - Blackness and White Light


Rusty Pacemaker

Blackness and White Light

2010

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Even though this band name could make one think of this as a gory death metal band, this is actually in a heavy/doom/gothic metal vein. Rusty is actually one Austrian dude, who taught himself multiple instruments in his quest for making music. This is a very DIY album, which isn’t in the black metal genre, which is quite rare. Except for the drums and female vocals, all guitars, bass, keys, and vocals were performed by Rusty.

This album is hard to classify, as I haven’t really heard anything quite like it before. Just from the production, I can tell that this was either a DIY album, or a decently produced black metal one. He has sighted Bathory as an influence, so that may be where the production stems from. However, the music is very diverse, with acoustic guitars making the occasional appearance, as well as keys and some atypical percussion. The guitars are well played, keys are effective and drumming is pretty good. Overall, all instruments are written and played with emotion and a decent degree of skill.

However, this album isn’t without its flaws. The vocals on here range from not very good to just terrible. The female vocals on Amok are just terrible. However, the vocal lines are quite well written, if a good singer were behind them, it would have made the whole album much more enjoyable. Apart from that, there are no real flaws, just a lack of amazing content. None of this really sticks in your head, and it doesn’t have the “wow factor” that can warrant a great score. This is a very personal album, and I think that the only person out there that can truly appreciate this fully would be its creator. There are no tracks that clearly rise above the others, they all have their moments of disinterest, but they have their good moments too, and overall, this is a positive experience.

Although having some flaws, Rusty Pacemaker has created a decently enjoyable album that is an extremely emotional soundscape that may not be for all. However, I believe that the only opinion that truly counts for this album is Rusty’s.

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Claus’ Rating 2.75/5

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