BLACKCAT MANOR "From Here On Out"

BLACKCAT MANOR

"From Here On Out"

BlackCat Manor hail from my neck of the woods and are very likely the best heavy band in Northern Illinois outside of Chicago. Hell, maybe inside Chicago as well. Their last EP "Relentless" introduced the world to their tuneful yet aggressive style and now "From Here On Out" perfects that style even further.

These five tunes are a smooth mix of thrash metal, pop punk, straight up classic metal, emo and metalcore influences, with no one style prevailing. It's amazing how well they mix it all up. One of their biggest weapons is a stellar vocalist with an outstanding range, covering every thing from peppy melodic tones to barbed wire snarls. He adapts to whatever the song requires. A lot of the riffs that pop up in BlackCat Manor's tunes are pretty familiar, especially on "Son To The Shore" but they are executed and used so well that there is little cause for complaint.

Each of the 5 songs here boasts a very metallic guitar sound. "Evidence To Burn" has a choppy, urgent feel, "Hats Off To You" mixes thrash and accessible punk to great effect and "Conflict Resolution" is just catchy as hell. Last tune "Hammerclaw" is more abrasive than what we're used to from BCM but still has its appealing moments. Throughout the EP, the drums snap in a jazzy groove and mix fluidly with the bass work.

"Relentless" was not a fluke ans BlackCat Manor is really onto something here. This has the capacity to reach a wide variety of heavy music listeners. I hope some decent record company latches onto them and we finally get a full length next.

BLACKCAT MANOR