Blackball

Item: Super Heavy Dreamscape
Author: Bob Melvin

Super Heavy Dreamscape

(1996)

Reviewed by Bob Melvin

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Label Metro One MusicThe LighthouseJune 1996

alternative rock grunge hard rock

Blackball is the newest band in Metro One's remarkably diverse musical quiver. What's the flavor? Glad you asked. Precious Death members Chris Scott and David Bishop have strayed off the metal path to "The Land of Hard Alternative" on the band's debut, Super Heavy Dreamscape. Scott fulfills a longtime wish with this album, and he's all over it. He wrote all the songs and played most of the guitars (bringing Bishop along to play axe on four tracks). Simply put, Super Heavy Dreamscape is his baby, and he does a decent job with it.

The album, to the band's credit, certainly doesn't sound like some metal band trying desperately to fit into the alternative scene. It is consistently edgy and although it suffers at times from Filter- and Mortal-itis, it retains enough growl to remind you that these guys weren't always alternative. Scott and Bishop's roots shine on the title track, as well as the gloriously crunchy "Not The Way I Want It To Be."

On the lyrical side, an appropriate response after giving Super Heavy Dreamscape a spin would be: "Just get it all out, man. Purge. Purge." Scott puts all the angst on the table, allowing the listener to pick through it as any good yard sale shopper would. Not a bad thing, though-it works extremely well. There's a strong theme of relationships flowing through the album: band relationships, relationships with the big bad world, with good friends, and not-so-good friends. Scott does an impressive job exploring the darker side of the human experience: fear, doubt, apathy, the inability to change-the list goes on. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Scott's writing is his ability to admit that sometimes life stinks and we don't have the answers. An example is "Wither:"

And what can I say I don't even want to be here anymore Everything that's breakable is broken now And everything I came here for is gone Can I lean on you to keep from falling down Yesterday I came to the end of myself, and I'd like to say That I found somebody else But it's the same old thing that it ever was The same old thing that it ever was

In "One More Sucker," Scott addresses the hypocrisy of media and the world's definition of "success:"

Slip, silent, sweet, and soft away Indoctrination can be marvelous Relax and soak it in In a song I sing along and right or wrong The concept sticks I get my fix And I become a part of the glorious Propaganda machine that hates me So just do what I tell you And just buy what I sell you And believe that I love you You're just one more sucker

Blackball is definitely one of those bands that seems to give a rip about what they're saying, and also how they say it. As encouraging as it is, however, to see harder-edged bands paying special attention to melody and vocals, Scott's voice at times sounds overprocessed and the music gets lost in harsh harmony. On some songs, like the aforementioned "One More Sucker" and "Wither," it works. On others, though (like "Get Outta Here"), it doesn't. Scott is at his most effective vocally when left alone to be a little raw, such as in the startlingly pretty "There Goes The One."

Overall, Super Heavy Dreamscape pleases, and mainly for its ability to simply explore. Chris Scott & Co. (and just so you know, rounding out the Blackball experience are drummer Lorenzo Mauro and 17-year-old bassist Tom Barber) have crafted a unique, but familiar sound that fits in just fine with the Filters and Mortals.