Having reformed in September last year The Black Spiders haven’t taken long to get into the action this year.
Hot on the heels of last year’s ‘Fly in the Soup’ single the hard-rocking five piece have just released an absolutely belting EP entitled ‘Deaf Proof’.
Coming ahead of the much-awaited album, due for release at the end of March, this four tracker serves as the perfect aural aperitif to the long-player; amazingly it’s been over seven years since ‘This Savage Land’, The Spiders’ last album landed with an almighty octopedal thump.
A release which made inroads into the UK charts at a time when the band were tearing up crowds at major festivals of the ilk of Rock am Ring, Sonisphere and Graspop. The future seemed bright; sadly time was called in 2017 with an eight date farewell tour.
The triple six-string fronted beast is back and leave no doubt in my mind of the seriousness of their intent from the very first chords of a barnstorming cover of Aussie rockers The Easybeats 1968 hit single ‘Good Times’.
It’s a track that’s been covered, for good reason, several times – the one I recall from my teenage years is the one recorded by Jimmy Barnes and INXS for the ‘Lost Boys’ soundtrack of 1986 – and the Spiders have done it justice powering along with a freight-train beat, sledgehammer riffs, squealing six-strings replete with wonderfully ‘howling at the moon’ rock n’ roll vocals. Did someone mention that THE Black Spiders have returned? Just checking!
Following directly on from the rock n’ roll romp of ‘Good Times’ The Spiders swerve into a grungy Sabbath-ish five minute heads down stoner stomp ‘The Weight’.
Within influences are worn on the collective sleeve but without becoming a carbon copy; The Spiders know their trade as they consummately demonstrate in the final minute and a half instrumental outro.
Next up ‘Ancient Astronaut’ kicks in with a brooding, resonating bassline coupled with a hard-hitting riff before the vocals tip a knowing nod in the direction of the dark lord Ozzy.
There’s an internal astral projection with a feeling that Syd Barrett has gatecrashed affairs in a most welcome fashion.
The EP closes with outright rocker ‘Power In The Darkness’ that gives yet another perspective of The Spiders; drawing on their influences such as Motorhead, AC/DC, The Stooges and Zeppelin this is a tune that swaggers and snarls like an intoxicated tiger on the bar crawl to end all bar crawls. Oh yeah! THE Black Spiders are back!
Review by Gary Spiller for MPM
