INTRODUCING: Blackgold
If the style of the most iconic nu-metal acts like LIMP BIZKIT and SLIPKNOT can be compared to a professional wrestling match: loud, sweaty, theatrical, encouraging of crowd participation, and a near guaranteed chance that everyone there is going to go airborne at any given moment, then the style of BLACKGOLD can be compared to a grimy, underground, bareknuckle boxing match.
The mysteriously masked UK five piece’s new self-titled EP is brash, brazen, and as in your face as nu-metal gets. Things are kept pretty close to the vest regarding these guys, as rumours swirl that the black and gold clad band are all misfits and ne’er-do-wells that have scraped themselves together from the criminal underworld to finally bring some respect to their name and add some gutter reality and mentality back into nu-metal. And on top of that, there’s whispers that these guys are planning something big…a score to end all scores…but that’s a secret for another time.
“People just think anyone can do music these days, but that’s just not true,” says Spookz, the band’s charismatic frontman. “It’s about a group, a crew. And yeah, we’re different than those dudes that have come before us, trying to write about what the underworld is like without having really lived it. You can trust me on that.” And he certainly backs up his word on the EP. It’s all piss and vinegar from the word go, with opener It’s Art setting the tone with a snarky, scathing condemnation of anyone who dares to look down upon the truth these gents are spitting.
It only escalates from there, with final track Hold It Down being an intimate glimpse into the growing up of their leader, Spookz, though the sense is there that each band member has some commonalities in how they grew up, and how fast. But behind the majority of this EP is a solid and chunky production and riffs as thick as CORPSEGRINDER‘s neck. There’s so much bounce in these tracks that these guys have crafted something worth talking about. But there’s no debating the bottom line here. It’s art, sure, but money talks.
“Everything’s a target as long as we can get paid,” says Spookz. “Places that play money for us to play. That’s what we’re after. That’s the goal.” See, BLACKGOLD isn’t just a colour scheme, it’s a mantra for this band, and a vision. It’s a group of scrappy lads rising from the filth to turn their rags to riches; to polish the dirty stone into a diamond. But just when everyone has them pinned for another money hungry band looking to get rich quick, that’s when they’ll surprise you the most. Spookz calls to mind one particularly iconic moment in heavy music history from another band that was looking to shake things up and make the elites uncomfortable. “We want to make noise. Remember when RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE held all of Wall Street up and played a gig? Yeah that would be sick. Maybe in London or something, definitely.
Altruistic rebels looking to do their part to establish a new world order, or black tongued salesmen looking to do what is necessary to make a buck in the age of clout and social media. It’s not that easy to get a handle on just what BLACKGOLD will ultimately become, but one thing is for certain, they have talent, and they want to make their voices heard loud and clear, and everyone had better pay attention lest they wind up on the wrong side of history. “I definitely imagine we are going to be massive,” declares Spookz. “We’re massive pretty much already, I think. If you don’t think this is massive then you must not have heard it. And yeah we get enough buzz out of life just by living, but who doesn’t want more? Everyone wants more, and if you say you don’t, you must have it all already.”
BLACKGOLD is out now via self-release.
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