Review: Black Lung ‘Forever Beyond’
So, here’s a quick summary of everything you may or may not have read in the past about Baltimore’s Black Lung: they didn’t have a bassist (but they do now), they used to be more doomy (but now they’ve gone all mainstream –booooo), and the vocals are the weirdest thing since Bob Dylan did a karaoke version of a Sam Cooke song (but he’s obviously had lessons since then). Oh, and the singer/guitarist, Dave Cavalier, looks like the big baddie from Superman 2.
Clearly, all of the above is superfluous bollocks, and all you really need to know is that Black Lung have indeed been on a bit of a musical journey since their inception in 2014. Some musical journeys dart between stylistic poles, others merely find a successful formula and stick with it (usually with diminishing returns). It’s fair to say their journey has been one of sanding off the edges, honing both their musicianship and songwriting, and starting to produce some unashamedly accessible yet involving albums as a result.
Their last long-player, 2022’s Dark Waves, to my ears, cemented the sound of the band, whereas Forever Beyond also now benefits from a real upgrade in the consistency of the songwriting, to the point where I already know this is gonna be one of those reviews where I have to talk about every bloody track! Sorry…
Opener, Traveler (or in the King’s English, ‘Traveller’), served also as the first single, and it sets out a great stall from which to present the rest of the album. Is it doom? Not really. Is it psych? Sorta. But as I said above, the overriding takeaway is that it’s just a really good song. The guitars are both fuzzed-up and modulated, as with all of the classic acts from the aforementioned sub-genres, but somehow none of that dominates. Instead, we’re left with a memorable bass shuffle, a melodic yet underplayed vocal from Cavalier, and a ton of great guitar work that serves the song rather than being a mere riff-fest.
Death & Co. continues things with an almost sci-fi soundscape during the first half. The second half leans heavily into art rock/indie territory, with definite echoes of Interpol in the guitar lines. It’s another strong effort which, to my mind, serves as an excellent appetiser for the third track – and probably my favourite on the album – Savior (and again, the artist formally known as Prince Charles would prefer ‘Saviour’).
It kicks off with an ethereal guitar sound which threads and weaves its way throughout. When paired with possibly Cavalier’s best vocal performance on record yet, you’ve got a corking track which I’ve been going back to on repeat. It’s certainly the most psychedelic thing on the album, which, outside of the Grateful Dead, wouldn’t normally be my thing, but it works brilliantly here.
Black Lung were intent on making their most polished – in a good way – and mature record to date…
This segues into Follow – and it’s worth commenting on the fact that the sequencing of this album, and the subtle connections between the tracks, is really well done. Yes, it’s less than forty minutes long, but it flies by as if it were only a twenty-minute EP. Stylistically, it’s similar to Savior, but it ramps up the guitar energy a notch and increases the pace. The fade out, with what sounds to my cloth-ears like cellos, is a fantastic touch, and as with the sequencing, it shows that Black Lung were intent on making their most polished – in a good way – and mature record to date.
Forever Beyond Me then slaps us in the collective face with a riff and delivery that wouldn’t have prompted any raised eyebrows if you’d said Cavalier was acting as a guest vocalist on the new Queens of the Stone Age album. Master Homme would indeed have been proud if he had penned this thumping and sprawling piece of cosmic-desert-doom-funk!
Boarder Hoarder then takes us into vaguely Tool-like territory, but not as heavy, so maybe it’s more akin to Karnivool. Either way, it works well, and whilst it’s not a stand-out track, I’d be really splitting hairs if I forced myself to criticise it. It’s a seven-out-of-ten on an album that’s otherwise made up of eights, nines and tens… There you go, I’ve done my critical shamanic duty!
Album closer, Scum, confidently lumbers into existence with a slow build-up followed by the most metal riff on the album. The verses come to an almost gallop; it’s a very different energy and attack to anything else. From around the six-minute mark, we’re thrown into what is essentially a classic and bombastic outro, which suits the album perfectly.
So that’s it, seven tracks and just thirty-five minutes – no filler, no interludes – just quality songwriting and a real attention to the art of putting together a coherent album with an appreciable musical ebb and flow. Whilst Forever Beyond might not break down any genre walls or create anything objectively new, what it does do is capture the listener from the first minute to the last, and provide enough nuance to engage for many, many further listens, which I can attest to – it’s part of the reason this review is late!
Label: Magnetic Eye Records
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: David J McLaren
