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BLCKWVS Premiere “0167 AY” Video; 0160 LP out Feb. 22

Posted in Bootleg Theater on February 6th, 2019 by JJ Koczan

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A bit of context here: German atmospheric sludge instrumentalists BLCKWVS started out — as the more vowel-inclusive Blackwaves — 15 years ago. 0160 is their fifth full-length. Its title makes it of a series that began with the four-piece’s 2005 demo, 0110, and has continued in that manner since, up to their last album, which was 2012’s 0150. A goodly portion of the seven years since that offering would seem to have been put to use in making 0160 itself, which sees release through This Charming Man Records on Feb. 22. It seems likely that some of the reason for the extended break between records — though they’ve done splits and reissues all the while — is down to the fact that there two versions of the new album: one instrumental and one on which every song has a different vocalist.

blckwvs 0160 with singersAll or nothing, then. It is a common affliction among instrumental bands to have to explain why they don’t have a singer — just ask Pelican, or better, don’t — and I guess BLCKWVS decided they’d get it all out of their system at once. Fair enough.

Now the titles. The numbers don’t really need an explanation — it’s just how the band works. But if you put the letters together, you get the words “Black Hole No Way Back,” so despite the different vibes brought to the 42-minute release across its eight component tracks by virtue of having eight different singers, the idea is that each song should feed into a singular message. And they do, thanks to the instrumental foundation of BLCKWVS themselves to which the vocal takes have been added. There are some stark contrasts, as when Siggi Rudzynski from Space Chaser does a total Bruce Dickinson over “0162 AC” after the throaty shouts of Toni Hünig from Union of Sleep on the opener, but as the album unfolds that variety becomes part of its overarching personality, and in combination with the consistency in the performance of the core band, its shifts are easy enough to roll with, however much an individual performance might stand out.

To think of it another way, each track sets up its own world that’s part of the solar system that is the whole outing. Each vocal performance revolves around the gravitational pull of BLCKWVS, and together they all give a complete picture of 0160‘s years-in-the-makingblckwvs 0160 instrumental intent, from the harsh screams of Marc Grewe (ex-Morgoth) to the easy-flowing croon of Black Vulpine‘s Sarah Lisa Middeldorf. It all makes sense… with the proper context.

And one more bit of that. If you’re thinking you’re going to click play on the “0167 AY” video below and hear Christoph “Lupus” Lindemann from Kadavar in his traditional manner, nope. “0167 AY” brings a much more cinematic vibe, with a spoken voiceover and an apocalyptic feel that’s on its own wavelength even as regards the rest of 0160. It still works with the rest of the album, but it’s striking nonetheless. As far as I’m concerned, that just makes it more fun.

Info from the PR wire follows the clip below.

Please enjoy:

BLCKWVS, “0167 AY” official video premiere

It took more than 5 years for these guys to finish this project – a very ambitious project, cause they wanted to do every song with a different singer they love. And as you can imagine, there were a lot of people keen doing it and just a few really did it. So, in the end you’ll get the most promising BLCKWVS record you ever listened to. They still have their trademark monolithic super heavy doom sound, but spiced it a bit.

The following people did their part – and tell a spacey story from song to song. Toni (Union Of Sleep), Ed Fraser / Heads., Marc Grewe (Insidious Disease /orig. Morgoth), Munde (i not dance), Sarah (Black Vulpine), Siggi (Space Chaser), Lupus (Kadavar), Chriss Dettmer and Milo (Rhonda).

Preorders available here: https://thischarmingmanrecords.de/produkt/blckwvs-0160-vocal-instrumental-lp-digital/

Tracklisting:
0161 Bl (feat. Toni Union Of Sleep)
0162 Ac (feat. Siggi Space Chaser)
0163 Kh (feat. Munde Not Dead)
0164 Ol (feat. Milo Rhoda)
0165 En (feat. Sarah Vulpine)
0166 Ow (feat. Chriss Dettmer)
0167 Ay (feat. Lupus Kadavar)
0168 Ba (feat. Marc Grewe)
0169 Ck (feat. Ed Heads.)

BLCKWVS is:
Stefan Uhe – Guitar
Tobias “Tommec” Völlmecke – Drums
Chris Nußbaum – Bass
Frank Uelsberg – Keys

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BLCKWVS on Instagram

BLCKWVS on Bandcamp

This Charming Man Records website

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