Album Review: Blackbox Massacre, Pink Edition
German instrumentalist trio Blackbox Massacre trace their origins back to a series of 2007 get-togethers between two bands: Spaceship Landing and Coogans Bluff. In 2008, the first Black Box Massacre LP, Deich was released with a six-piece lineup drawing members from both bands. Drummer Charlie Paschen (Coogans Bluff) and guitarist Steffen P. Schneider (ex-Spaceship Landing) remain in the lineup these 18 years later, and have brought bassist Raphael Nigbur on board for what sounds like a purposeful reboot of the band and what, across four extended tracks, becomes a likewise complex and rewarding listening experience.
Pink Edition is the name of the record, and its 45 minutes tell the tale of a three-piece — plus Ulf Kneitel guesting on organ — bringing a sense of adventure and range to a heavy psychedelic foundation. Prog, krautrock, riffs large and small are all at play, and the organ makes an early impression as part of the hypnotic opening stretch in lead cut “Pferd.” Also the shortest song on the LP at 9:50, it incorporates harmonica sounds and evokes Morricone early through an atmospheric stretch that is no less brimming with intention as the soothing, warm immersion gives quickly over at 3:30 to a boogie shove, not quite neo-space rock in the Slift tradition, but more in line with tight-knit US West Coast shuffle, active and speedy but not aggressive so much as inviting. The organ comes back and they open it up melodically while Paschen stays busy on the kit, and unfurl thicker riffing and crashes in a movement that consumes much of the song’s second half.
But for the ending, Blackbox Massacre and Kneitel resolve the crashing and momentary molten bombast in soothing residual drone and light exploration, which makes the transition into “Raffi Nerie” (12:23) that much smoother. And if the underlying message of “Pferd” was texture, “Raffi Nerie” bears that out, gradually rising from its initial minimalism to a mellow, fluid cosmic jam held by the drums. A linear build plays out as denser fuzz is revealed against the bassy backdrop while a lead layer floats overhead and the song manages to conduct a roll as it passes the halfway point en route to the payoff at 7:40. Marked by Paschen‘s switch to keeping time on the crash cymbal, it is the moment at which Blackbox Massacre fully reveal the crescendo they’ve already reached, and they ride that groove accordingly into a mounting oblivion of noise, dropping out around 9:20 to give space to a bit of human voice or what sounds like it amid retained drone and strumming guitar.
The interlude doesn’t last as “Raffi Neri” blasts back to full-crux at 10:36 and carries to as noisy as finish as one might expect and/or hope, having upended the start-one-place-go-somewhere-else-then-come-back structure of the opener in favor of a straight-up linear progression complete with a break to emphasize songwriting and dynamic. This is not a band haphazardly jamming. Nothing against that, but Blackbox Massacre very clearly weren’t coming back after 18 years or however-actually-long for no reason, and Pink Edition isn’t show-up-at-the-studio-and-hit-record instrumental psych.
These pieces are fleshed out, thought out, and as side B begins with a burst of fuzzy, organ-laced radness the band aptly title “Funk” (11:06) — taking part in an ongoing conversation between prog and funk that’s been going on for the part of half a century — and continue to sweep expectation out of the picture as they ebb and flow with smooth purpose and energetic delivery alike, bass and drums relishing the rhythmic breakout.
Lead guitar does a bit of storytelling before the midpoint and they shift into a fuzz-proggier stretch therefrom, executing a mini-build and finding room for an ’80s sci-fi verse before the electronic disco beat takes hold and the three-piece give a demonstration of how far they’re willing to push beyond the imaginary lines dividing genres. Shades of Quincy Jones circa 1978, and no complaints. Do they work the fuzz back in — somehow there’s a little of Uncle Acid in the structure of the riff, but it’s vague and tonal — and flow out to weirdo electronic space glory? Most certainly they do, with Schneider punctuating the angular progression with jabbing chords. No doubt the band could’ve kept that outward push going for another 20-35 minutes, but “Funk” ends organically enough for something that might otherwise prove perpetual, and closer “Texas” (12:05) hits with suitable swagger almost immediately thereafter, adding to the shuffling impression of “Pferd” earlier but giving strong let-loose vibes from its start.
For about a minute, anyhow. With the organ back in, “Texas” shifts into a mellower desert sprawl, subtly building over the next couple minutes until its inevitable apex, marked by a quick stop and return on the drums at 4:20, as the three-piece dig that much further into the motion at hand. Past six minutes in, they’ve constructed a wall of noise that they then proceed to tear down, and it’s the bass that answers the question ‘okay where to next?’ as the low and and drums reorient around a declining riff and organ line that feels like it might be the basis for the album’s ending, but which is barely recognizable as such by when they actually finish it out in chugging, noisy fashion, one last purposeful measure before they cut to silence, once again having offered a song that was both a fit with those around it and which works toward its own ends in style and direction. To be sure, Blackbox Massacre have normalized that kind of thing well and set their own context in a way that might be more common, say, from a group that had put out a record at some point in the last 18 years.
Blackbox Massacre came to attention as Schneider, Nigbur and Paschen are doubling with Christian Peters as the first live lineup of Fuzz Sagrado. One of course is looking forward to how they’ll operate in that capacity as well, but Pink Edition seems to be setting out on its own longer-term progression. It would be foolish to speculate what the band might do from here given the context of this release, but in persona, craft and the fervency of their motivation, they sure sound like they have more to say.
Blackbox Massacre, Pink Edition (2025)
Blackbox Massacre on Instagram
Tags: Blackbox Massacre, Blackbox Massacre Pink Edition, Germany, Leipzig, Pink Edition, Unsigned bands
