Turns out Black Elk’s debut album from a couple of years ago created quite a buzz among the informed few although it completely flew over my head. My first collision with Black Elk was over at the Sludge Swamp just recently and when we were sent a promo of the new album it was an unexpected surprise.

Anyway, all of that aside, Black Elk is another one of those bands that falls into the noise rock/ punk/hardcore/ math-core bracket that is similar to Wetnurse in idea but miles apart in terms of sound and songwriting. The Jesus Lizard and Melvins might be at the core of the band’s music but it’s the swinging Black Flag rhythms, the noisy math core precision and the mentally unhinged and slightly psychotic vocals that make Black Elk stand apart. Always a Six, Never a Nine is one heavy motherfucker of an album with a wide variety of influences and enough depth in the songwriting department to be something of a true blue original.

Stand out tracks include the awesome album opener My Last Shred of Decency which has a groove that could eat Mastodon for breakfast and shit them out in time for lunch. Pig Crazy with its shrieking dissonant ending that recalls The Jesus Lizard but with a simultaneous drum and bass part that’s all Melvins and the epic Brine which slips and slides through a variety of different moods starting with a clean and gentle guitar part and ending with probably the most straight forward punk beat on the entire album.  The vocalist sounds a bit like Henry Rollins without the testosterone overload and is very effective while the rhythm section is phenomenal in its ability to hold the dissonant and complex grooves together.

Always a Six, Never a Nine is a dense and complex album that might take a few listens to fully appreciate but it will be time well spent and the end result should be more than worth it.



Label - Crucial Blast
Year of Release - 2008