Black Succubi

Name "Black Succubi" made me think of some kind of goth "black" metal band. And almost black, ambiguous cover art... But to my big surprise this Danish guys' stuff ain't some goth lameness, but robust, heavy rocking metal.

'Troubled Times' opens the album with balls-to-the-wall energy, showing gritty guitar sound, singer Jan Lundstrøm's "Biff" Byford-ish powerful vocals (that Saxon guy), punchy rhythm section and when adding great song writing to that (fantastic middle part including tasty acoustic guitar indeed), the band have really nailed it down. Truly an ear catcher, a bloody fantastic heavy metal song. 'Dark Side' is a turning point, however. Zakk Wylde style heavy 'n' screaming guitar playing is starting to show up, and the song itself is part heavy metal, part Black Label Society type face-down-on-gravel rock, and the next song 'Into Oblivion' takes another step towards it. And that's where the album sticks to. Okay, there's some double kick drum parts and metal solos (some provided by Iron Fire guitarist Kirk Backarach and Mercyful Fate axe-maestro Hank Sherman), but that really doesn't make any kind of difference. Anyway you watch this, it can't be said to be unique in any way, but I really miss the heavy metal heard on the great opener. But hey, that's just the case of what you wanna listen to... This can't be blamed for being shite, no, because the songs tend to have memorable parts, much more so than any typical rock. However, after the opener, the songs get too similar and much more dull-edged.

It is needless to comment, that Black Succubi have potential. I think they seriously need to concentrate on compositions, because this feels like same few ideas was circulated over and over again. They wrote a great heavy metal song and decided to move to other things... Weird. Anyways, if you like Black Label Society and the like, give these fellas a chance, because they can be right down your alley.

(originally written for ArchaicMetallurgy.com in 2008)

Black Succubi. is the second album of this new homonym danish band. They play heavy metal, with some groove metal influences, most notably on the guitar work and riffs, with some hard rock elements thrown in. The songs of this record are generally very focused on the choruses but thankfully there a few instrumental sections. Thankfully, the singer of this band is quite good, showing a decent range and lots of attitude, which brings the tunes to another level. As I've already said, the riffs are very groovy (Black Label Society and Pantera influences here!), which is thing that I don't like that much.

Moving on to the songs, all of them are midpaced and, despite this record doesn't contain masterpieces, it doesn't contain truly awful tracks either. “Troubled Times” possibly is the highlight of the album, with a decent main riff and a fantastic acoustic guitar section. In fact, the acoustic guitar is used throughout the album, during many songs. All the other tunes are unfortunately very similar and slightly pop-ish, with a strong emphasis on the choruses and on the vocal lines and melodies. “Dark Side” is an average catchy track, “Psychotic Meltdown” is longer and more ambitious, with some slow groovy riffs, and “Cry for your Brother” is again, very memorable.

All in all, Black Succubi is an ok album, not flashy nor amazing, but still containing a couple of nice songs. An average album.

Best Moments of the CD:
-the acoustic guitar on “Troubled Times”.