This Norwegian Thrash Metal act was started as a project in late 2008/ early 2009 by Askoey (Bergen) based Jarle H Olsen (lead guitar) and Frank Natäs (rhythm guitar & backing vocals). Having sharpened their chops by playing in a Metallica tribute band for nearly a decade prior, the duo felt that the combination of Jarle's fierce shredding technique, and Frank's heavy and raw riffing would go together well in original music all of their own and, locking back now, I can only applaud their decision to break out of the covers idiom!
By the end of 2009, the duo had written the nine songs on the album, and that's when Jarle convinced two befriended musicians (and also colleagues apparently, though I haven't been able to find out in which connection) from Chile, namely bassist Rodrigo Garcia Solocuerdas and drummer Christián Carrasco Lara, to become session musicians for the album. Somewhere in 2010, he traveled to Santiago, Chile, where recordings of bass, drums, and part of the lead guitars took place. Frank then wrote the lyrics, and in the meanwhile the duo had attracted bassist/ guitarist/ singer Tore Christer Storlid (whom already has a vast reputation for having been a musician in the bands Brutallica, Artificial Comfort, Mahirim, and as live session guitarist for Audrey Horne) to perform the vocal duties on the recordings. The recordings were eventually rounded off, when Frank first added his rhythm licks, and Jarle (whom in the meantime had also recorded and released a solo instrumental under the Quadrasonic monicker in 2011) added depth and finesse to the music with more lead guitars. Meanwhile, Storlid had become a member of what was to become a touring band, and the trio decided to give the album an optimum chance of public appeal, by hiring famed producer Tommy Hansen to master the album at his Jailhouse Studio, and give the material an optimum sound! In late 2012, the band completed its line-up by adding drummer Bjarte K Helland (besides having helped out Jarle on his solo album, he also played with Brutallica, Mahirim and Artificial Comfort – sometimes it's a small world, wouldn't you agree?) the their fold...which brings me back to the material at hand!
Citing influences from the likes of Testament, Metallica, Sepultura, Pantera, Children Of Bodom, In Flames, Soilwork, Symphony X and Death...doesn't really do PBM quite the justice it deserves. Indeed, whereas the influences may be close to the musicians' heart, their individual collaboration gives the whole an element of excellence which exceeds that of any of the influences mentioned individually! Jarle's solo and lead work is really exceptional, and of a constantly great level throughout the album...not only an epitome of melody-inducing greatness, but also bringing in an slight level of complexity on top (and, anyone having read a couple of my reviews will appreciate that such kind of music is always welcome at “Casa Tony”)! Underneath, the guitar riffs are not only heavy and raw, but they also bring in an additional layer of crunchy and attractive melody. And, as a cherry on top of your favourite dessert (sorry if you don't like cherries...they're actually among my personal preferred fruits), there's the vocals! Here's a singer whome actually knows how to bring a level of “clean” into his harsh vocals, and whom is not afraid to occasionally bring in a line of purely clean singing in a musical style which is normally typified by more acidic types of vocals!
With my limited access to the Internet (cannot currently log onto MySpace due to the network PC I use not having been updated yet, whereas said music site already did that more than half a year ago), I have only found one track off the album (the very representative “Red Light”) available at both (www.) pitchblackmentality.com and (www.) facebook.com/PitchBlackMentality. As I have no solid reason to suspect that more might be available at the band's MySpace page anyway, I guess the best thing you can do is check out whether the album's posted at one of the trusted on-line sales websites (iTunes , Amazon , etc...), for they usually allow the possible client to listen to 30-second samples of àll album tracks! In spite of the band stating they're looking forward to hit stages as much as possible, there were no dates posted in their activities calendar at the time I checked (which is actually a mere couple of days ago)...and that may be partly due to the fact that the album was already given a UK release in July (release date mentioned above is for worldwide distribution outside the UK!)?
At any rate, if you're into truly excellent and innovating Thrash Metal (or just generally in to the best of Metal music), then this Danish band is something you don't wanna miss out on! Check the band's live calendars on a regular basis, if you don't wanna miss the opportunity of watching the foursome perform. Should be quite a show, as they all have a wide stage expertise anyway!