Castle Black

‘You’ll find nothin’, diggin’ around the old town’.

These are the lyrics to the opening tune on Castle Black’s new EP and they represent the whole album. While their style isn’t exactly what I’d call new, it’s definitely unique. And while you might find nothing digging around the old town, you will definitely find something in the rocking beats of this new EP by Castle Black.

The opening bars of the EP will tear you away from what you are doing to listen. The aggressive female vocals and hard hitting beats are reminiscent of Hole’s best songs, and the dirty garage sound of the guitars on ‘Psychic Surgery’ will have you air guitaring along in no time. The vocals on this song are high pitched and hard hitting – everything a female lead rock singer should be.

For fast percussion, strong vocals, deep lyrics and hard hitting beats, look no further than Castle Black’s EP, ‘Find you there’. It would be amazing to see them live, but if you’re not in New York you can catch them on Facebook, Spotify and Soundcloud. - Indiemunity

Castle Black are the kind of band you want to catch on the way up. Right now, the power trio are running on inspiration. They’re pushing the limits of their chops, careening through a bunch of styles – oldschool punk, abrasive post-Bush Tetras postpunk and noisy later-period Sleater-Kinney indie aggro, to name a few – on their way to really crystallizing a sound of their own. If this is as far as they get, they’re a lot of fun live. If they keep at it, they’ve got a high ceiling. Both guitarist Leigh Celent and bassist Lisa Low sing; drummer Matt Bronner is the kind of uncluttered rock player a band like this needs. Right now they’re making their way up from crappy venues – their youtube channel has a lot of good live stuff from the odious Bitter End, for example – to good places like Matchless. Their next gig is tomorrow night, December 19 at 8 PM at Leftfield, the old UC Lounge space at 87 Ludlow St. just south of Delancey; cover is $10.

At this early point in their career, they’ve got the tunes, and a consistently dark vision. All a band like this needs to do is keep playing, and grow beyond just playing scales, or noise when just a little something from outside the box would set them apart from the rest of the pack. The stuff at youtube is tantalizingly haphazard. There’s Premonition, which has a sludgy country feel and then picks up steam; the epic Dark Light: A Plague Revisited, with the eerie foreshadowing of its opening hook, to a series of unexpected up-and-down tempo shifts; The Next Thing, with its trippy, oscillating white noise and mashup of stoner metal riffage and viciously chugging oldschool punk rumble. Song of Winter is the simplest of the songs, and catchy as it is, sounds like a very early one. Someone Hear Me shuffles and careens along over a noisily embellished blues scale as the cymbals build a hailstorm behind the roar. Doing Time Pass puts a noisier spin on a vintage Gang of Four riff and then goes in a more straight-up direction.

They’ve also got an ep, Find You There, streaming at their music page. The opening track, The Old Town builds from an aching, tense postpunk verse into an ominously lingering chorus, an allusive tale of kicking around a hopeless place where bad accidents happen, and you’re so numbed by the pain that you feel nothing when they do. It’s their best song so far. There are also cleaner studio versions of Doing Time Pass and The Next Thing, plus their funniest number, Psychic Surgery, sort of the early Go-Go’s doing boogie rock. - New York Music Daily

First thing that comes to my mind when hearing "The Next Thing" is rock music similar to Sleater-Kinney. Eighties rock fast forwards into the year 2015 ..and you have the sound of Castle Black. I envision being in a secluded downtown NY bar.... that only fits about 100 people in the room and everyone watching the band with eager eyes . Out of town visitors ecstatic as they get to see and hear a band way before anyone else discovered them. Castle Black combines the vocals of Leigh Celent and Lisa Lowenstein, add Leigh's guitar riffs and you have a sound that is inviting to anyone who loves a little rock n roll and a female led band working hard to make it out there in a city saturated with bands just trying to have fun and make their presence and music known. I'm here to help share some of that music with you. Listening to "Psychic Surgery" has guitar riffs that make me imagine that Castle Black could have been on the bill for CBGB's back in the day. Keep an eye out for their LP release and be sure not to miss them and a true NY band encounter if you have the means to visit one of the best cities in the world...and then say you knew them way back when.... - Indieball

When discussing the history of Punk, a city that will always stand out for its artists and culture is New York City, home to the Ramones, The Velvet Underground and of course the legendary CBGB club, where many artists of the time earned their stripes.

Last year the big apple saw the inception of Brooklyn founded Castle Black, a Punk/Grunge trio capturing the NY sound with a subdued, crunchy Garage-band sound with a slight L7-esque edge to their own concoction.

In existence for less than twelve months, they soon gathered traction and are now playing shows all over the five boroughs, even stretching out in to the nation’s capital of DC, the home of legends such as Bad Brains, Fugazi and Rites of Spring.

Their debut EP, Find You There, was released last August (download link below) and being an 80’s child and New Wave Punker, I’m digging this all round.

Taking elements of Post-Punk, Grunge and New Wave, with a dab of surf-riffage for flavour, I can easily see myself in the pit during a Castle Black set.

The band also have a new release set for the 7th May, so keep an eye open and set towards Brooklyn’s battlements for the next foray of sound.

For all information on the band and their music, follow the links below:

For updates, head to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and their Official Website.
For the bands music, head to Soundcloud and to CD Baby to download the Find You There EP.
The band’s Youtube Channel is where its at for live videos of Castle Black in action, that and shows… Funny that. - Musically Fresh

I got there early enough to catch the openers, one of which I had never seen. Castle Black was an interesting addition to the lineup and unfortunately I only saw a few of their songs. I was treated to some gritty, aggressive female vocals. These guys came down from Brooklyn for this show, so check them out next time they come to your area. - Speak into My Good Eye

Doesn’t it feel great when you stumble on an up-and-coming band who end up fulfilling their promise, and them some? Castle Black‘s sizzling set Friday night at Basement Bar in Bushwick had the fearlessness and outside-the-box creativity of classic punk rock. A lot of people assume that punk music is just three chords and a fast beat, but the reality is that the artists in the first wave of punk bands went into punk because they wanted to do something more fun and also more sophisticated than they could within the cliched confines of 70s dadrock or hippe blues. Castle Black delivered that kind of defiantly individualistic energy with equal parts guitar-fueled savagery and sardonic humor.

It’s amazing how tight this band has become over the past six months: constant gigging will do that to you. And yet, their music hasn’t lost its raw edge, or persistent unease, or outright menace. And they’re a lot of fun to watch live. Guitarist Leigh Celent played most of the set on her Fender Jazzmaster, changing to a Mustang when she wanted to switch out grit for reverb and resonance. She rocked a vintage Runaways t-shirt and jeans, with a wiry intensity in both her vocals and stage presence.

Back-clad, dark-eyed bassist Lisa Low made a stark contrast, distant, enigmatic and seemingly haunted. She ran her Fender Precision bass through an amp turned way up, then varied her attack on the strings for an unexpected amount of sublety. But when she stepped to the mic and traded vocals with Celent, she was no less forceful. If you could find the perfect picture of a rock drummer circa 1981, that would be Matt Bronner. Head down, sticks in the air, focused to the point of tunnel vision, he made the band’s sudden detours into some unexpectedly tricky metrics look easy, as one song shifted into 10/4 time, another one with some deviously teasing syncopation. And he’s not the kind of guy who tries to beat the sound into the drums: instead, he lets it out, for extra low rumble.

The band opened with the skronky postpunk of Doing Time Pass. Celent is an interesting guitarist: she likes catchy hooks, but just when things might get predictable, she veers off into noise. There was a little Andy Gill, or maybe Arto Lindsay in her jagged lines, but mostly it was just her. The band roared their way into Leave It with a slow, stalking groove, like a vintage Buzzcocks epic that they suddenly took doublespeed into anthemic Avengers territory, then back again.

This Old Town, with its uneasy shifts between major and minor, was a biting, bitter portrait of deadend hopelessness. Just when the catchy, Joan Jett-flavored Premonition sounded like it was going to sway along with an easygoing highway rock beat, Bronner and Celent bit down hard. They took that drive to an angrier level with Sabotage and then segued into the night’s best song, the ominously ferocious Secret Hideaway. After a confident run through the endlessly unanticipated, haunting dynamic shifts of Dark Light – Castle Black’s Last Rockers – they closed with their single The Next Thing, with its offhanded references to both stoner metal and classic punk. Castle Black’s next New York gig is July 29 at 10 PM at the Parkside; for the Hoboken crowd, they’re also at Maxwell’s the previous night, July 28 at 8. - New York Music Daily

A year ago, power trio Castle Black had relentless energy, tons of promise and some good tunes that they were thrashing into shape through constant gigging, all the while trying to get off the Dives of New York treadmill. You know the dril: the Bitter End, Leftfield, Desmond’s, ad nauseum. Fast foward to now: they’ve got two excellent ep’s out, along with a killer video shot at Fort Tilden. The group – guitarist Leigh Celent, bassist Lisa Low and drummer Matt Bronner – are all decked out in post-apocalyptic camo, trudging with characteristic menace through the underbrush, finally emerging…no spoilers here! It’s the rare video that holds your attention all the way through to see what finally happens, a mystery story in images with a ferocious soundtrack. As usual, the trio have a couple of gigs coming up: tomorrow night, Nov 8 at 10 PM they’re playing Shrine in Harlem, followed at 11 by the intriguing Unknown Nobodies, who have both a punk side and another that veers closer to paisley underground psychedelia. Then the two bands are at the Parkside starting at 10 on Nov 18.

The new ep, Losing Forever, is streaming at their webpage. The title is typically enigmatic: is it apocalyptic, or just self-effacingly sarcastic? This group keeps you guessing. The opening track, Sabotage has a mighty oldschool Britpunk feel, it’s catchy, and anthemic, and pissed off, and like a lot of this band’s songs, is packed with unexpected tempo shifts, counterintuitive major/minor changes and catchy hooks. Premonition, by contrast, is a lot more straightforward, a bitter, vivid late-summer reminiscence. The jangle/crunch dichotomy in Celent’s gutar overdubs brings to mind the Distillers.

Bronner’s menacing rumble undpins the wickedly catchy, minor-key Secret Hideaway, part dark garage rock, part X, part Thalia Zedek. “We’ll be ok on a private holiday, wish for nevermore,” Celent intones enigmatically: a suicide pact, maybe?

Leave It kicks off like a swaying, midtempo Buzzcocks ballad and then hits a burning doublespeed punk drive, like peak-era Sleater-Kinney but with better vocals. The album winds up with its best song, the hauntingly epic, doomed Dark Light, built around Celent’s menacing, opening cliffhanger riff: it’s this band’s Last Rockers. There will be a Best Albums of 2016 page here at the end of the year and this one will be on it. - New York Music Daily

Excerpts from the video review: This first band is no stranger to Musically Fresh, and we're glad to have them back. I'm talking about of course, Castle Black, who just released a new EP. So the first thing I noticed about this album, and this is the designer in me coming out, but their album design, the picture on the front of the album, really fits their sound perfectly.

Now I know nobody's going to agree with me on this but to me they remind me of Evanescence meets The Distillers. Castle Black is a three piece female fronted band, and I think probably the most apt genre they can be described as is alt rock. Basically if you enjoy good old-fashioned alt rock, these guys should be your staple. I love their sound, it's simple and clean. Well, not really simple because actually they're doing a lot of little, subtle, complex things, but you get the idea. There's no bullshit to their music. It's just good. It all fits perfectly, it's clean. - Newschooled / Musically Fresh Video Review (Youtube)

Castle Black – Losing Forever

Delivering eclectic and thunderous heavy rock sounds, powerful vocals and dark, dystopian lyrics, Brooklyn hard rock trio Castle Black’s new cinematic video – “Dark Light: A Plague Revisited” – is something to behold as far as music videos go.

“The song is essentially a song about cycles, kind of a dual story, equally applicable to relationships as well as to societal issues,” lead vocalist and guitarist Leigh Celent says. Celent is backed up by the talented bassist and vocalist Lisa Low and the powerful drummer Matthew Bronner.

“The whole idea is of the opposing forces – dark and light – coming in and out of one’s life,” Celent says.

“The parallel meaning of the song is being really unhappy with the state of affairs in society, breaking it down, trying to make it work for you and then completely destroying it all, trying to build something better.”

The video is the official video for the single from the band’s recently dropped sophomore EP, Losing Forever.

Castle Black’s sound is an inventive and stimulating mixture of genres, including classic rock, alt. rock, punk, post punk and grunge. The infusion of various genres also makes Castle Black’s style one of a kind.
“Premonition”

Another new audio-only single, “Premonition,” is a perfect example of the band’s genre-bending talents. On this track, the band morphs into an indie pop/post-punk outfit, ripping out a hooklicious, melody-laden summertime track, complete with choruses containing the lyrics: “it was the summm-mer.” The track can grow on you.

“We’re not interested in being pinned down to a genre,” Celent says. “In fact, we specifically avoid that.”

The trio have been described as ‘the kind of band you want to catch on the way up’ (New York Music Daily), and compared to ‘hard-hitting beats reminiscent of Hole’s best songs,’ (Indiemunity) with Musically Fresh complimented the band for ‘capturing the NY sound with a subdued, crunchy garage-band sound with a slight L-7-esque edge to their own concoction.’

The band performs live regularly in New York City, the New Jersey shore, and the mid-Atlantic. Their songs have been played on both domestic and international radio shows, including Banks Radio Australia, Vulcan Sound Radio, Grrrl Power Hour, Rock Radio UK, to name just a few. - Indie Rock Cafe

The grunge/punk outfit known as Castle Black ripped through their vicious songs with purpose and precision; reminding us all that the 90’s is a musical time period worth embracing and that the power trio is still and will always be king (or in this case queen?). - Behind the Curtains Media

Being a bit partial to some L7, when “Blind Curtain” dropped into my inbox, my speakers were dying to blast it out and, yep, New York-based Castle Black, who have had their sound described as being “often compared to variants and mixes of Hole, Sleater-Kinney, Bikini Kill, L-7 and Dead Weather”, deliver on that description with a four-minute blast of raucous grunge.

Following a pattern that should probably have been trademarked by L7, “Blind Curtain” is fairly basic in structure. The guitars buzz, the melody is repetitive yet infectious and the whole thing has a grubby, dirty air about it. Basically, if Hole, L7 and Bikini Kill had a massive scrap in the car park of some dodgy bar, Castle Black is exactly what they would sound like. - PureGrain Audio

Castle Black’s new single, “Blind Curtain” comes off the line heavy as a stone slab. The guitars are deep and distorted, not heavy metal, not doom and gloom, but still forceful. As the rest of the instruments arrive the song gallops along into a driving pace. Guitarist and vocalist Leigh Celent comes in as the music articulates into a song form, unfolding some vocal melodies along the way.

There isn’t much excitement going on here; it’s a catchy, heavy rock song. Once it gets up to speed it sounds like it came from a stoner-rock honky-tonk, and driving fast with the windows down (or with no windows at all) sounds like the ideal setting for this song.

Maybe this is what they have planned all along- their previous EP, Losing Forever, developed with each track, so perhaps “Blind Curtain” will fulfill that and be one piece of an awesome music-pie.

You can find “Blind Curtain” on a limited release lathe cut record through Leesta Vall Sound Recordings. - Digital Wheat Paste

Castle Black is a Brooklyn-based rock trio, bringing a powerful and thunderous sound, full of hard-hitting jams that never sacrifice the hook. Described as drawing from the punk, post-punk, grunge, alternative, and New Wave genres, Castle Black refuses to be pinned down to one style.

The band will be releasing a new EP, titled Trapped Under All You Know, on August 18th, which will be accompanied by several supporting music videos. Debut EP Find You There dropped in 2015 and was followed up by second EP Losing Forever in 2016.

Each song on Trapped Under All You Know careens through an almost stream of consciousness depiction of life stories, social anthems, and raw emotions. Gritty female vocals, delicate back-up adornments, roaring drums, canny bass, and guitar-forward hooks collide, staying in your head for days on end.

Castle Black has played numerous gigs throughout the eastern half of the US, including notable music fests like Brooklyn’s Northside Festival, NJ Shore Festival, and Staten Island’s PrideFest. The band was selected through an audition process as one of a handful of female-fronted groups for Summer on the Hudson’s Make Some Noise Festival in 2017, which highlighted women musicians making an impact on the NYC music scene.

The act has had extensive radio airplay on stations from around the world (Strawberry Tongue Radio, Banks Radio Australia, Vulcan Sound Radio, Rock Radio UK, Radio Free Brooklyn, and many others) and has opened for prestigious outfits, including Richard Lloyd (Television), Big D and the Kids Table, and POD.

The Big Takeover is excited to premiere the dynamically rousing and gritty number “Seeing In Blue” off Castle Black’s forthcoming EP. As the jagged edge guitar grinds, the bass line holds down the low end, and the drums pummel a kinetic tattoo, Leigh Celent and Lisa Low shout out the vivid lyrics.

Celent explains the meaning behind the song, stating, ““Seeing in Blue” is the first track off of our upcoming EP Trapped Under All You Know, and it sets the themes and foundation for the whole album. To me, the song is pure fantasy; it’s about something completely happening in one’s head, a vision of what it would be like to be somehow different than how one is, and the how the knowledge of that fantasy is torturous in ways.”

She also give details about the creation of “Seeing In Blue”, revealing, “The song has one of our signature tempo shifts that we tend to gravitate towards. I think the first few times we played the song as a band, with all of the parts in place, we were playing it the same tempo all the way through. It was missing something! Then it just morphed into that natural slow down you hear at the end, and that part really emphasizes all of the main parts of the song, all kind of magnified in that slow-motion moment.” - The Big Takeover

Brooklyn-based rock trio, Castle Black, are coming in with their music full force, and packing a huge rock punch. Their music is influenced by a variety of genres including punk, post-punk, grunge, alternative and new-wave. Raw vocals, and well-thought out bass and guitar-hook keep your ears tuned into the last tune. Their newest EP, Trapped Under All You Know, releases Aug. 18. This is their third release, following their first EP Find You There and second EP, Losing Forever. They have received rave reviews from New York Music Daily, Indie Rock Cafe and Musically Fresh.

Castle Black have played several festivals, including Brooklyn's Northside Festival and NJ Shore Festival. They were also selected from an audition to participate in Summer on the Hudson's Make Some Noise Festival in 2017, and featured other impactful women musicians. Other musicians the trio have opened up for are POD, Richard Lloyd of Television, and others.

The trio are exclusively sharing their new EP with AXS, and lead singer of the band excitedly shares with AXS that "the album title, Trapped Under All That You Know, is a line from one of the songs, “Blind Curtain”. That line/title was decided upon because it best represented the themes of this album and the trajectory of the songs as ordered on the album. Without getting too specific, the songs kind of morph from a fantasy world of sorts to more of a reality, and then weave back and forth a bit between the two along the way. A lot of people say no one listens to full albums anymore, but we refuse to believe it and this album is for those who do!" - AXS

From the first song 'Seeing In Blue' the band set out to ensure the new EP 'Trapped Under All You Know' doesn't disappoint. The mixture of frenetic punk orientated pieces alongside some hook laden grunge keeps the four song collection powerful and pleasing throughout. - Beehive Candy

"If you run a music blog, it’s especially validating to watch an artist or an act deliver on the promise of their early days."

"It was impossible to tell was coming next, except that it was bound to be loud and hard and intense – and catchy."

"Celent is really cutting loose on the mic now too. She finally unleashed that wounded wail in all its vengeful glory in the night’s best song, in fact one of the year’s best songs, Broken Bright Star, through all sorts of permutations." - New York Music Daily

"Armed with a couple of vintage Fenders, guitarist/frontwoman Leigh Celent has grown into a powerful and distinctive player equally at home with noise and melody. Bassist Lisa Low anchors the music with a looming ominousness while drummer Matt Bronner ranges from rapidfire four-on-the-floor punk to doomy metal to the occasional departure into unorthodox meters, holding the beast to the rails."

"Broken Bright Star is one of the half-dozen best songs of 2017, hands down."

"Brief as this is, you’ll see this album on the best of 2017 page here in December if we’re still all here." - New York Music Daily

NYC band Castle Black have released their new EP Trapped Under All You Know. Whilst pulling inspiration from raw 70s punk, 90s grunge and alternative, the 4-song record is an unapologetic and powerful sonic hitting packed with sheer force, gliding throughout the raw rock spectrum. - Colorising

"Their music will fill your head with energy and well-crafted lyrics while the beat fills your ears with musical nirvana and keeps your toes tapping. These songs belong on radio and in your favorite television shows. We only wish there were more than four songs to enjoy. We will definitely be keeping our eyes open for the next installment from this band that is destined for greater things."

"Hop on the bandwagon now cause this band is going places. Rush out and get this EP now!" - LA Music Critic

Every great brand of alternative mixes with punk to create the ultimate addictive song of the summer. A reminder of what dominating guitar riffs, melodic basslines, booming drums and a powerful singer with rock prowess can do. - Subversive Zine

Trapped Under All You Know‘s best track is “Blind Curtain,” a four-and-a-half minute argument that Castle Black could be the dirtbag Sleater-Kinney that I didn’t realize I’ve been looking for.

It’s a guitar-driven song on a guitar-driven EP, but the real take away is the interplay between singers Leigh Celent and Lisa Low. Their call and response on “Rise” is another highlight.

Back to “Blind Curtain,” though. The song’s biggest weapon is groove. For an EP produced with a classic rock sound in mind, the track works not because of volume, but because of time and repetition. It drives without pounding, it moves smoothly. It creates a place. It sounds like a car ride with someone attractive in a leather jacket who will likely screw you over. You will see it coming and stick around anyway. At its best, Castle Black makes you want to stay. - Fatter, Older

About the EP:  "Layers of reverb guitars flickering and roaring through the shadows, Leigh Celent’s power trio put out the best short rock album of 2017."

About the show:  "Not even the sonic interference from the adjacent labyrinth of rehearsal rooms could silence this beast."

About Broken Bright Star:  "Guitarist Leigh Celent’s evil, spare icepick intro kicks off this slowly marauding anthem that eventually explodes in a fireball of reverb." - New York Music Daily

“Hey, hey listen to me!” After Dark Light, here is a new song from Castle Black, Brooklyn’s blastin three-member rock band. ‘Seeing In Blue’ comes with a nice official video and fresh, pulsing tunes. You’re gonna love it! Get prepared for dance! - Nusonar

NYC female-fronted grunge rockers CASTLE BLACK have premiered a layered and supernatural vibed music video for “Seeing In Blue”, a track off their EP Trapped Under All You Know. The video is a perfect depiction of the Brooklyn trio’s atmospheric vibe and powerful sonic-packed sound. With an infusion of genres and influences, CASTLE BLACK takes inspiration from 70’s punk and 90’s grunge – reminiscent of acts such as Sleater-Kinney, The Dead Weather, Hole, Savages, and Bikini Kill. - Idioteq.com

Castle Black’s weighty fuzz tones and rough life anecdotes define New York indie grit. Their musicianship experienced a turning point on this EP, given the integration of Lisa Low on bass. Rather than play conventional bass lines that mimic the main guitar melody, she chooses those that harmonize and complement singer/guitarist Leigh Celent, with whom she’d worked around four years prior. - Music Existence

NYC’s Castle Black have a lot more going for them than just a great band name and clever EP titles; the trio seamlessly blend ’80s punk with the heyday of grunge across powerful tunes that roar with a gritty melody. Anthemic, emotive and never short on vocal harmonies, this release is the first to include synthesizers for the outfit and it yields great results alongside giant guitar riffs. While the early part of the listen channels a less manic version of Babes In Toyland, by mid EP we’re closer to post-punk (think Slant 6-ish), before the hypnotic, dynamic rock of the closing tunes. Imagine if Bikini Kill were on Sub Pop records in 1993 and you’ll understand how 4 songs is just not enough here. - New Noise Magazine

In a world that lives in a bubble of unspeakable acts and in a time that few artists speak through music for social issues comes CASTLE BLACK with ‘Sierra’. Taking to issues all of the tremors that are shaking the world today with the punk and tone strong voices that can only make you feel the entirety of the pain felt by many and more than you can imagine. - Uncivil Revolt

" . . . creating headsmashing music ... " - The Revue

This is a slow/fast/slow/fast eruption feeling like life itself. Tumultuous,
uncontrollable and merciless. Like a non-stop roller coaster with jubilant ups and depressive downs, balancing between disillusionment, hope and joy. I guess we’ll
never know when this troubled planet will become a livable place for everyone
regardless gender, colour or religion. ‘Sierra‘ is a significant sonic reflection of
our modern struggle for life. Find out why right here, right now… - Turn Up the Volume

Infused with grungey moments, ‘the gods that adored you’ melodically draws on rough and ready riffs and drums that give the songs pops of energy that work so well together."

The vocals on this record in moments are delicate and then packed with fury. ‘A Cigarette, Saved’ is a good example of how this band use that range to the fullest using delicate tones and then combining the power with big melodies that make for one of the stand out tracks on the EP.

An EP that from the moment it begins highlights fantastic melodies and even better vocals, ‘the gods that adored you’ keeps giving until the very end of the record. - Thinking Lyrically

To close this review, I have chosen to review Broken Bright Star by Castle Black. The track opens with drums, and goes into a haunting guitar riff that appropriately accompanies the drums. The vocals and bass soon come in, completing the opening sound. The vocals are good, and the instrumental is bone chilling. I really enjoyed the opening two minutes of this song. Broken Bright Star sounds like it could be on Marilyn Manson's album Eat Me, Drink Me. It is equal parts creepy and intriguing. This band can definitely make it. I enjoy this track, and the closing minute is a very good closing for this song. I want to hear more from this band, and I would definitely share the stage with them. Rating - 9.8 - Paul Hedrick

The five-track Michael Abiuso-recorded affair (The Venetia Fair, Kiss Kiss, The Gay Blades) once again highlights the band’s female vocal attack and punk/alt-rock blend, a mighty mixture as evidenced by Castle Black’s ongoing success and energetic live shows.

With additional mixing and production perfection from none other than Mark Plati (David Bowie, Prince, Spookey Ruben, The Cure) and mastering by way of Jamal Ruhe, the names attached to this album alone are enough to warrant your time. Factor in the trio’s actual post-punk prowess and it’s a no-brainer. - Pure Grain Audio