Black Wing Halo

I hope you all have had the time to check out Black Wing Halo since last week’s interview! If not, I thought I’d bring you a review of their new album “Welcome to the Show” that we talked about. I’m not going to lie, I don’t normally seek out this style of music so this post definitely opened my realm of music appreciation. The album is certainly unlike anything I’ve ever heard. They weren’t lying when they said that they “threw a bunch of stuff into the Vitamix.” Every song’s sound is so distinct from the next, leaving no style untouched.

The show only lasts 8 songs but it’s definitely packed full with entertainment from the different genres they play with throughout the album. The title track introduces you with harsh distorted rhythms that have sort of a southern rock feel in them paired with a more relaxed melodic chorus line. Then when you listen to “Above my Head” you get their unique hard rock style mixed with some electronic and experimental somewhat haunting touches. You can tell that they really utilized the time they gave this album to mature. From not rushing the writing and production process of the album they got to take their expansive musical styles to a whole different level.

The different song styles are disconnected in a good way in my opinion. The distinct differences make up an album that does a great job at showcasing their self-made hybrid genre. Like I said, it’s not my usual pick for music to check out but I’m definitely appreciative to having been exposed to such a unique style of music. It’s definitely an album worth checking out if you’re interested in hearing something raw and really unique. If you like pure punk, hard rock, southern blues, or experimental electro, you’re guaranteed to find something entertaining in all the elements they throw at you. Check it out and let us know what you think!

Listen or Download:
http://blackwinghalo.bandcamp.com/


Lauren Resnick
Monster Entertainment LLC
lauren@wearemonsterent.com
www.wearemonsterent.com - Indie Monster

Black Wing Halo
Welcome to the Show

With so many different genres of music out there, it’s a wonder why there aren’t more bands like Black Wing Halo, who mix together multiple genres to create a diverse and unique tone. Their style sounds most explicitly like grunge, alternative rock, and soul music combined; however, the band’s tastes do not stop there. When I came across the band’s Facebook page, I saw a giant list of influences that included Nina Simone, Muse, Bob Dylan, Public Enemy, Wes Montgomery, The Melvins, James Brown, The Roots, David Bowie, Marvin Gaye, Tool, Faith No More, Elvis Costello, and Miles Davis (you can see the whole list here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/blackwinghalomusic/info). It is easy to see that the members of Black Wing Halo have very diverse tastes, and it really comes across in a great way in their music.
As I listened to the first couple of tracks on the album, I began to think that I might be in store for a very Nine Inch Nails sounding release. This thought was due to the styling’s of Black Wing Halo’s vocalist, whose voice often erupted into a very distorted scream and who showed clear influence from old blues music. Also there were a lot of strange synth sounds happening in the background that gave me the impression that this band was going to have a lot of focus on those electronic sounds. But as the album progressed, so did the band’s style.
After those first two NIN sounding tracks came “Be My Husband,” a very raw and grungy rendition of a song made famous by Nina Simone. The cover came as a huge surprise to me—but one that I was very excited to hear. I thought that covering a Nina Simone song on an alternative rock record was very bold and original, and after hearing that piece I knew I was in for a special album. After that came “Above My Head,” which sounded like it could have come from Depeche Mode or The Cure. Then came “Sway” in which the vocalist raps during the verses…As a person with very eclectic tastes, I really loved hearing all the different styles joining together; even more than that, I loved how Black Wing Halo was still able to keep their own unique sound throughout the album. Even when switching styles the band still sounded dark, grungy, and depraved.
The production on the album is to be lauded as well. The tones sound very dirty and unclean but they are never muffled—perfect for a grunge sound.
Black Wing Halo still has some room to grow with their songwriting but I’m expecting future albums to be even better than this excellent effort.

Key Tracks: Be My Husband, Above My Head, Around the World
Seth Wood-MuzikReviews.com Contributor
June 24, 2012 - Muzik Reviews

Black Wing Halo’s Welcome to the Show is an album that forces fans to listen to each and every song in order to appreciate the scope of the band’s musical mosaic.

Review by David Feltman
Black Wing Halo, formerly decibel., returns with its first full-length album. Borrowing the name and a couple of tracks from the initial EP, Welcome to the Show feels a little light considering the eight-song track list. But, the band manages to offer up a full show in a short time.
The most captivating aspect of Welcome to the Show is the ceaseless exploration involved. With the exception of the tracks recycled from the EP, nearly every song runs full steam down a different sonic avenue. “Be My Husband” is sparse and primal, relying on little more than drums and wails. “Above My Head” employs ethereal, electronic riffs a la Portishead for a little ’80s flavor. This results in some fascinating and unexpected tracks, but not all of them are successful. “Sway,” for example, presents an inspired organ melody that’s a little bluesy and a little creepy. Sadly, that melody gets completely derailed by ill-advised rap-rock vocals.
Black Wing Halo is a band that’s impossible to pigeonhole into any genre less broad than “rock.” Rapidly shifting from blues to punk to country to whatever else they feel like, listening to any given track will only give listeners a distorted idea of what the band is about. Welcome to the Show is an album that forces fans to listen to each and every song in order to appreciate the scope of the band’s musical mosaic.
There are definitely some kinks that still need to be ironed out. But those kinks are inevitable when dealing with such untamed ambitions. Black Wing Halo has matured a lot as a band, and its sound continues to coalesce. This is a band well worth watching. You can check out the new album here.
- Target Audience Magazine

Black Wing Halo’s Welcome to the Show is an album that forces fans to listen to each and every song in order to appreciate the scope of the band’s musical mosaic.

Review by David Feltman
Black Wing Halo, formerly decibel., returns with its first full-length album. Borrowing the name and a couple of tracks from the initial EP, Welcome to the Show feels a little light considering the eight-song track list. But, the band manages to offer up a full show in a short time.
The most captivating aspect of Welcome to the Show is the ceaseless exploration involved. With the exception of the tracks recycled from the EP, nearly every song runs full steam down a different sonic avenue. “Be My Husband” is sparse and primal, relying on little more than drums and wails. “Above My Head” employs ethereal, electronic riffs a la Portishead for a little ’80s flavor. This results in some fascinating and unexpected tracks, but not all of them are successful. “Sway,” for example, presents an inspired organ melody that’s a little bluesy and a little creepy. Sadly, that melody gets completely derailed by ill-advised rap-rock vocals.
Black Wing Halo is a band that’s impossible to pigeonhole into any genre less broad than “rock.” Rapidly shifting from blues to punk to country to whatever else they feel like, listening to any given track will only give listeners a distorted idea of what the band is about. Welcome to the Show is an album that forces fans to listen to each and every song in order to appreciate the scope of the band’s musical mosaic.
There are definitely some kinks that still need to be ironed out. But those kinks are inevitable when dealing with such untamed ambitions. Black Wing Halo has matured a lot as a band, and its sound continues to coalesce. This is a band well worth watching. You can check out the new album here.
- Target Audience Magazine

LIVE REVIEW

Who: Black Wing Halo

When: Friday, June 16th–11PM

From: New York, NY







Pre-show hype: Debut album Welcome to the Show available now, produced by Jason Rubal (The Cure, NIN, Dresden Dolls, Killswitch Engage). Black Wing Halo is getting a lot of attention with summer festivals, having formerly played CMJ (New York), NXNE 2011 and now NXNE 2012. They have a local following as well.

Crowd: The room was only a quarter full until Black Wing Halo began pumping out complicated and accentuated riffs; then it began to fill up, with many walking in off the street to watch.

Style: Like Nirvana meets Tom Waits, but harder, more complicated and deep.

Technicalities: This band has so many pedals and things… The band was super tight: drums, bass, guitar, vocals…everything.

Memorable moment: Josh Weinstein telling everyone to “fuck off” (part of the song), and him using a broken drum stick to play guitar.

Sex appeal: Young. Hot. Tattoos and short hair. Clean cut American boys…or are they?

Mentionable song: “Fuck off”

Total rank: 9/10. Any band that can get people to wander in off the street, sound tight–and get crazy-ass blonde chicks to jump like salmon up and down deserves a high rank. ‘Tis all I’m saying.



By: Rina Rosen - The Scene Toronto

Just last month, Black Wing Halo put to rest their previous name, decibel., and began 2012 afresh, sharing the stage with a handful of prime NYC artists and Deli magazine favorites, Your 33 Black Angels, That Handsome Devil, and Black Taxi at Mercury Lounge this past weekend. A multifaceted, sonic hybrid, BWH, comprised of Josh Weinstein (vocals /guitar), Doug McGregor (bass/vocals), Justin Hofmann (drums), and Stephanie Linn (vocals), delivered tunes from their upcoming album, including highlights, “Bite My Lip,” “Welcome to the Show,” “Sway,” “Rats,” One More for the Chopping Block,” and “Above My Head,” that incorporate the impassioned force and primal screams of punk, intoxicating beats and cadence of hip hop, intricate layering of progressive rock, and eerie electro-effects and distortion. BWH’s expansive soundscape swept across and grabbed the sold out venue’s undivided attention with aggressive energy and notable vocal interplay. Catch Black Wing Halo next Saturday, February 18th at The Quarter/MMC 16 in Harrisburg, PA. - Deli Magazine

It’s hard to judge a band by a mere three-song EP, but within that meager allotment decibel. manages to deliver a smorgasbord of amusement and intrigue.
Welcome to the Show seems to be compiled of three of the bands’ most disparate songs. I assume the reasoning for the selections was to show the bands full range, and that it does, but the result feels more like a mini-compilation than an EP.
The title track is an amalgam of dissonant Primus-like carnival barking buffered with languid Tom Petty-styled twang in the chorus. “Rats” shifts gears with a supercharged early-Butthole Surfers punk riff. And “Youth” slows way down with a somber and intense tune layered with Vedder-ish vocals to cap off the disc, but ultimately proves to be sonically thin. The one common thread between the songs is the mileage decibel. wrings from the megaphone-distorted vocals, coaxing punk flavors one moment and big bluesy backing vocals the next.
Don’t get me wrong, each of these songs is fun and fascinating on their own. But together they make a rather peculiar menagerie. There’s a lot of interesting things happening on Welcome to the Show, definitely enough to make one curious about their forthcoming full-length album. Decibel. demonstrates a wide berth of influences and talents while maintaining a veil of mystery around their precise musical identity. No doubt their LP will be more revealing; we can only wait until then to find out who decibel. will really be.
http://decibel.abhrecords.com/
Review by David Feltman - Target Audience Magazine

" . . . Last, but not least, dynamic and rhythmically complex decibel., closed the BK BBQ with a bang, literally, as the duet landed in a pile atop the drum kit. All in all, the day was a memorable and proud twelve hours for New York music." - Deli Magazine

" . . . Last, but not least, dynamic and rhythmically complex decibel., closed the BK BBQ with a bang, literally, as the duet landed in a pile atop the drum kit. All in all, the day was a memorable and proud twelve hours for New York music." - Deli Magazine

With one amazing sound that combines various elements of Acoustic, Alternative, & Experimental, Indie Band decibel is heating up the Indie Music Scene. Music lovers are gonna to enjoy the wonderful surprise they receive from the two-man band headed by Woody Moseley and Josh Weinstein. - Junior's Cave

The first band I saw was Decibel on the long bar stage. Between songs they sounded very family friendly even mentioning they had free stickers to take home to the kids. Then they introduced their ‘love song’ entitled “F**k Off”. Uh, yeah, not so family like, but an extremely well written, entertaining song. Decibel came down from New York to entertain us with their two piece band and I’m glad they did. - Rachel Rocks - PA Musician Magazine