Beginning with “Outer Space” and ending with “Sunset,” Sunset in the Outer Space is the 2017 debut album from Italian heavy instrumentalists Black Is? Just a Dark White, and while the band’s curiously punctuated moniker and sans-vocal configuration might bring to mind an act like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, the four-piece from Bolzano are distinguished through their double-guitar heft and readiness to hit hard on the Karma to Burn-but-slower-ish riffing of second cut “Bad Taste,” as well as their general atmosphere, which is more heavy rock than post-rock.

That’s not to say Black Is? Just a Dark White — the name… well… isn’t really accurate on any level, but I’m willing to grant that maybe in Italy the words “black” and “white” can be used in a sentence without immediate racial implications; that’s just not possible in the US — are wanting for atmosphere, because they’re not. From the “Komet Lulu” Neudeck artwork adorning the front cover to the breadth of the material itself, Sunset in the Outer Space is both varied and colorful, maybe somewhat self-aware as they riff doomly in the later “Graveyard,” but able to work fluidly across longer or shorter songs — “Bad Taste” is three minutes, “A Travel to Nowhere” is near 10 — so that the entirety of the 47-minute offering holds together despite each piece of it being a distinct progression, seemingly written to stand on its own rather than just be a part of an overarching work.

What I mean is that there are seven songs on Sunset in the Outer Space and they all have a clear beginning and end, whatever else may vary. “Outer Space,” the penultimate “The Way” and “Sunset,”  which follows as the finale, all seem to unfold with a stretch of silence or near silence, but even “Bad Taste” announces its presence and intentions in a clear manner. In that particular case, the band is giving clear homage in the telltale start-stop riffing to the West Virginian godfathers of instrumentalist heavy, but after the lead guitar reaching into the void as it does in the first half of “Outer Space” before, the context is such that even by stripping down to their most straightforward take on the record, Black Is? Just a Dark White manage to use it to expand on what they already did on the first track.

This sort of cleverness of arrangement extends to the material itself and can also be seen in how the songs are structured through the tracklisting, which is set up more for the CD to which the album was pressed than vinyl. “Outer Space” gives way to two sets of three songs, each one comprised of a shorter song and two longer ones. Think of it as: one, three, three. In this way, “Bad Taste” is a lead-in for “A Travel to Nowhere” and the subsequent “Slowtorch,” which I’ll just assume is named for the band (who put out a record this year, something Black Is? Just a Dark White probably wouldn’t have known was going to happen in 2017), who are also from Bolzano, and that the slower, grittier riffing, choice bassline and flowing groove in that song are intended as a salute to hometown heroes. Fair enough. With “A Travel to Nowhere” at 9:40 and “Slowtorch” at 8:42, there’s plenty of substance to both, but it’s the weight of the rollout in the latter that most separates it from the surroundings. Nod will happen, even unto the relatively subdued guitar interplay at the end of the song. No getting away from that groove. And no complaints.

“Slowtorch” being paired next to “Graveyard” makes me wonder if perhaps that too is titled after the band (who are from Sweden, not Italy, but still), but the classic doom ringing out in the opening riff of the four-minute roller would seem to tell a story of actual mournfulness. The song itself is more Candlemass or Reverend Bizarre than Graveyard, despite being called “Graveyard,” and somehow I don’t think they’re looking to title pieces after bands and then try to sound like those bands, which would be a nifty trick but not much more than novelty. “Graveyard” has a doomed lurch and is a marked swap in vibe as it picks up from “Slowtorch,” and moves into “The Way” (8:57) and “Sunset” (7:16), which as noted are the last two inclusions here and despite being shorter as a pair than “A Travel to Nowhere” and “Slowtorch” are perhaps even more a world of their own.

Quiet and hypnotic guitar begins “The Way” after a barely-there-but-definitely-there ambient stretch, and the song takes shape with a patience that “Bad Taste” would’ve otherwise rendered unthinkable, linear-building into its solo-topped and chugging midsection, getting loud and staying that way for the duration. It’s not quite a jam, but sounds improvised in part and benefits from that spirit, ending with a holdout as the distortion fades to the silence from which the bass intro of “Sunset” takes over, soon joined by ringing heavy psych guitar and a proggy contemplation that lasts but a moment before being swallowed at about 1:45 by meatier tonality and volume. “Sunset” swells and recedes without necessarily veering into loud/quiet tradeoff cliché, and the drift of its intro returns in the middle only to see the push revive and ultimately win out — the rumble is palpable as they bring Sunset in the Outer Space to a close, and the impression given is that stretch probably could have kept going into perpetuity, save, of course, for the limitations of format.

I was given a copy of this CD earlier this year at Freak Valley Festival by bassist Felli Cetti and it made the trip home with me and has been a regular go-back-to-it kind of album since. I’m not saying it’s perfect or that the band didn’t have room to grow — in fact one of the strengths of it is multiple avenues of forward potential — but it’s eminently listenable, and leaves me wondering what a follow-up might sound like this half-decade later. Their last post on social media was plugging an Oct. 2021 show — with Slowtorch, as it happens — so I’ve no idea if something’s in the works or not, but either way, Sunset in the Outer Space holds a place for what might still at some point be a next offering.

As always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.

—

So the Quarterly Review is done. That feels pretty good. That’s two with 100 records in a row. I’m going to try my absolute damnedest to not do the same thing when the next one comes, probably in early January by the time I get there but I’d much rather have it in mid-December, before the holidays and list time and all that other crap. I’ll look at the calendar. Either way, I expect no trouble in filling at least 50 albums, and if I need to break it in half like I’m pretty sure I did between 2021 and 2022, I know nobody’s going to complain because I’m the only one who gives a shit anyway.

Did I tell you I went to see Rammstein a few weeks back? My mother and my sister and I went. A family outing. Super cool. Great show. I’ve been on a huge kick with the band ever since — went from Sunset in the Outer Space right to Herzeleid, which is why I mention it — and I might decide to close a week with Zeit, their new album, if I’m feeling fancy. Been probably since 2005 that I last wrote about one of their records, so yeah. That would be an interesting challenge. We’ll see.

If I do, it won’t be next week. Next week I head to Oslo for Høstsabbat for the first time since 2019, which was both yesterday and an eternity ago. I’ll admit I’m a little nervous about the travel, about being in a place that’s not here for a couple days. And I wonder if maybe I haven’t lost a step in the intervening years. Can I still go do a trip like that? I mean, I did Freak Valley in June and that was great, and if you can make it through Psycho Las Vegas you can survive anything, so I guess, but anyway, anxious about the act of going. It is my sincere hope that none of my flights get canceled for some bullshit reason, but given my recent travel experience I’m not holding my breath and I’m not going to relax until I’m actually there. No doubt living with me in that mindset will be wonderful for both The Patient Mrs. and The Pecan for the next week.

Before I fly out on Thursday, I’ll review the new Clutch hopefully on Monday and have full streams for Twin Drugs, Sun Voyager and Caustic Casanova. Substantial week either way. Nothing like diving right back in after coming up for air from a Quarterly Review.

Speaking of, I went swimming a couple times this week. I don’t like the gym, but it is close to the house and has a pool. Gonna try the local YMCA today I think and see if that’s any better in terms of vibe.

Today is a new The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal, 5PM Eastern time. I already posted the playlist, but it’s a good one, all Quarterly Review stuff. Certainly there was plenty to choose from. Anyway: http://gimmemetal.com

Thanks for reading, and have a great and safe weekend. Hydrate, watch your head. If it’s Fall where you are, enjoy the crisp air, changing leaves, the necessity of a light hoodie. It’ll be winter before you know it, but a fleeting sweet spot is a sweet spot nonetheless. Worth recognizing.

FRM.

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Tags: Black Is? Just a Dark White, Black Is? Just a Dark White Sunset in the Outer Space, Bolzano, Italy, Sunset in the Outer Space, Unsigned bands

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