The New Black: A Monster’s Life

German hard rock/heavy metal band The New Black is back with a new album, their fourth overall, titled A Monster’s Life. Like the beast depicted on the album cover, The New Black has stomped and crushed the modern hard rock landscape, leaving inferior bands in their wake. Well, they would, if there were any justice. Instead, this band has barely made a ripple here in the US.

The New Black has essentially taken any redeeming qualities from the modern, mainstream rock bands like Nickelback and Shinedown (and there were some), and put a European polish on it. Part of the credit goes to producer Jacob Hansen (Volbeat, Pretty Maids, Amaranthe), who can make just about anything sound vital, but the band clearly knows the value of heavy, melodic riffs and muscular, shout along choruses. A Monster’s Life is a short, to the point album. 10 songs, 35 minutes, and wall-to-wall heavy, grooving, ridiculously fun hard rock songs. Leadoff track “Long Time Coming” sets the stage, and rockers like “Dead in the Water” and “Beer of No Return” (seriously, imagine a non-sucky Nickelback with that one) keep the party going.

Say what you will about the modern hard rock scene, but there are some bands out there who play this kind of music very well. The New Black is a great example of a band injecting some much needed energy into an established sound. If you like simple, catchy, and heavy rock n’ roll with a metal edge (especially bands like Mustasch and Volbeat), you’re going to find A Monster’s Life very satisfying.

Label: AFM

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