BLACK CAT MOAN – Departure (2023)
Based in Stockholm, BLACK CAT MOAN debuted in 1991 with the self-titled album ‘Black Cat Moan’, which was received enthusiastically with its bluesy hard rock inspired by ’70s Aerosmith, Great White, some Tesla, etc. The sessions for a second album started next year but due to the bankruptcy of their record label, those recordings were never completed. The band tried to continue for a while, but eventually fell apart.
After 31 years finally that successor sees the light of day, titled ”Departure”, recorded by original members Lars ‘Axelsson’ Isaksson (vocals), Jörgen Lantto (guitar, bass) and Bo Åström (drums).
BLACK CAT MOAN rocks mercilessly with a late Seventies arena-rock attack, and since opener ‘Crash’ the guys go to the bone. A fierce dirty hard rocker in which the snarling vocals quickly remind of Axl Rose, the punchy rhytm section move your skeleton and there’s a biting guitar work.
Title track ‘Departure’ sounds like a funky version of ’80s LA Sunset Strip scene with grinding grooves and raspy vocals. Lars’ voice occasionally go in the Robert Plant direction in ‘Molotov Cocktail’, while this pumping rocker also has the necessary Aerosmith traits.
After the nasty rocker ‘Boogie Woogie Man’, AC/DC is fully present in the angular ‘Shutdown’ and in ‘Bad Habits Die Hard’.
‘Tiger Ribs’ has some later Led Zeppelin on it, followed by the cutting hard rock of ‘Electrified’. The Guns N’ Roses sound is fully present in ‘No Mediocracy’ and ‘The Beagle Boys’, however BLACK CAT MOAN sounds more ‘Seventies’.
The cover of Badfinger’s ‘Lonely You’ is surprising and sounds like the well-groomed side of Great White meets Guns N’ Roses.
If you love your classic Seventies rock n’ roll style with a bluesy touch and an arena feel, you need to hear Black Cat Moan’s second album, which sounds the way every Classic Rock fan wants it: raw, dirty and hard!
Highly Recommended
01 – Crash
02 – Departure
03 – Molotov Cocktail
04 – Boogie Woogie Man
05 – Shutdown
06 – Bad Habits Die Hard
07 – Tiger Ribs
08 – Electrified
09 – No Mediocracy
10 – The Beagle Boys
11 – Lonely You
Lars Isaksson (lead vocals)
Jörgen Lantto (guitar, bass, backing vocals)
Bo Åström (drums, percussion)
BUY
www.amazon.com/dp/B0BNQX5H6H
