Black Knife - Spell Caster

Black Knife's 2019 debut full length, Spell Caster, is exactly what I would have expected from the Kentucky based Blackened Punk band. The more I listen to Black Knife's discography, the more punk and black metal influence I hear and the less thrash influence. So for fans of blackened punk rock, Black Knife should be on the short-list. With Spell Caster, the band offers eleven tracks, four of which are re-recordings of tracks which have appeared on numerous splits earlier in their career. The album clips at thirty minutes long, a quick pace for the eleven tracks but not for Black Knife's often truncated simplistic riffs. A big part of the punk influence which is heard comes from the prevalence of Hellwulv's provided D-beat drumming rhythms and the super stripped down song structures.

Regarding the new tracks served, there are a couple standouts. "Graveyard Bitch" reminds me of Midnight - in fact a lot of the tracks remind me of Midnight. Black Knife drop any of the NWOBHM elements from their sound so nowhere to be found are the more metallic elements or guitar histrionics. "Ripper on the Loose" is unique in that Hellwulv's vocals remind me of Countess' Orlok - quick sharp barks of blackened rasps. Of the new tracks, It's my favorite. The opening sample and quick angry rummage through standard rock and roll structure, including a spiffy solo interlude, give just enough variation compared to some of the other tracks to be a definitive highlight.



The re-recorded tracks: "Devil's Rock N Roll", "Full Moon Suicide", and "Beyond The Mortuary", "Bury Your God", all worthy of a full length position, occupy their central positions on the album with aplomb. Fans of the band will appreciate these classics tucked in to keep the album's energy pushing forward; it's this neighborly love giving "Ripper on the Loose" it's tits, making it my favorite of the newer tracks. Tucked in between "The Devil's Rock N Roll's" anthemic Venomesque battle cry and "Full Moon Suicide's" blitz, it floats by association. Perhaps the same goes for "Graveyard Bitch" then as well, packed neatly into the space rounded out by "Beyond The Mortuary," a track that adorned with bells, whistles, and power windows would just almost pass for an early Witchery click track. It's this back and forth of new and old that drive the majority of the album for me, but with each song having some identifiable personality, my familiarity with the four returning cuts doesn't skew my perception.

Hellwulv / Bast

In truth, the album's two opening tracks do little for me. "Pentagram of Rats" is where the album grabs me, starts shaking me, and never lets go until the last moment. Spell Caster is a well done release, compiling the bands best songs with toppings, and is the most accessible of their music to date format wise, being in a standard album configuration. I have concerns at this point of where Black Knife can - or even should - go next. It's all fine and respectable to rinse and repeat with such simplistic music - hell it's worked for the mighty Abigail - but it's easy to stagnate as well. How can a band push boundaries and stay honest to their sound when a sound is largely defined by such simplicity and stripped down attitude? There's room to add in my opinion. Some attention to creative melodic usage and depth is one area for either Hellwulv on guitars to employ or bassist Bast to explore underneath, as currently her playing generally follows the guitar riffs admirably yet with little variation.

Ultimately, as is usually the case with well done Punk influenced metal albums, if anything is gained, it's the desire to hopefully catch Black Knife live some time. They are truly the type of band which deserves a packed dirt-floor basement romparoo, endless cheap thirty-packs of the local standard, well endowed scenery in leather and denim, and not a watch, clock, or time-piece on the premises. There's nothing like emerging from a mid-week basement show and realizing your late for work. As Dio famously sung, "It's the same old song, you've got to be somewhere at sometime, and they never let you fly... you've got desire, so let it out! you've got the fire! Stand up and Shout!"