The Almagest

Issue date: 3/11/10 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: deathwishink.com

Last fall, Blacklisted did what every band does; released their newest effort, No One Deserves to be Here More than Me. But the band attempted to do something so unheard of in the world of hardcore, something so revolutionary that it had the entire scene in an uproar.

The album was randomly released. There was no pre-order package with limited edition vinyl or a limited run of a t-shirt.

The album just dropped, almost like out of the sky. No one had heard any of the 11 songs that span across the 26-minute album.

It was a gamble, but hundreds of people bought the album, mainly because it's Blacklisted, a band that has been in the top tier of hardcore bands for the past half decade. No one knew what to expect. Only two of the tracks had been previewed on the band's summer tour and they were staying tight-lipped about the contents of the record.

The band tried to do something revolutionary by not having a pre-order - the common way of releasing a record in hardcore - in an attempt to prevent the album from being hyped up.

But whom were they trying to fool? Doing something like this is revolutionary, but by doing so, the band put more hype on the album.

In the weeks leading up to the release, the band would make posts on message boards, stating that the album was going to randomly drop.

And this unintentional hype was not made any better by the head of Deathwish Inc., the label releasing the album. Founder, Jacob Bannon of Converge fame, would post pictures of the records to show that they were real and that he wasn't going to announce a drop time.

So going into the album, I didn't know what to expect, but had high expectations due to the handling of the affair and the previous work of the band.

When I finally put the album on, I was shocked. This is not the band that I have loved all these years, this isn't the band I have seen countless times, and this isn't the Blacklisted. It was something completely different. No longer hardcore, nothing like I've ever heard before.

The album has an atmosphere that cries late '80s, early '90s grunge. It's essentially a rock album with obscure intros and interludes, some with violins, trumpets, and a rain stick. What other hardcore band uses a rain stick?

Despite the change in music, the lyrical content is generally the same as it was on the previous albums. Front man, George Hirsch's focus remains on himself and those close to him, with most songs concerning a rocky relationship with his spouse.

Continued...

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