Blacklisted Heavier Than Heaven, Lonelier Than God

Blacklisted 'Heavier Than Heaven, Lonelier Than God' (Deathwish Inc, 2008)

In 2005/6 Finchy let me hear Blacklisted's debut LP '....The Beat Goes On' which we listened to on numerous occasions. We were really impressed by the heaviness of the production and we recognised some influences in their music which we touched upon in our bands. The beefy bass end and aggressive clarity of the record led Finchy to use it as a reference point for Tim to use whilst he was recording In Decades Decline's second LP. Tim did a great job, but I think his fee was probably a little less than Boston hardcore stalwart Jim Siegel's and the fact that we never mastered the recording before committing it to vinyl probably stymied the enterprise a little.

At least the Decades crew pretended to be interested in Finchy's suggestion. The Process was a different matter. Blacklisted were decried for their risibility and we decided to record at Arcadia studio. Quite why In Decades Decline decided to record with a guy who recorded Aberfeldy's debut with one mike in a room and then The Process decided to record where Oi Polloi had just finished a multi layered anarcho Gaelic opus, I don't know. I think we were in our experimental stage! Tim's production job still sounds raw and angry and we eventually finished The Process LP with Bri Doom at the 1 in 12 which sounds even better than Blacklisted.

Based on the first album this sophomore effort was purchased as one of the A and B records purchased on that drunken Saint Vitus visit to All Ages Records. The day after the Vitus gig, after we had steadied the fridge and plants we had knocked over the night before, sorry Michael, Fray and I had a quick blast of some of the records we had purchased. Unfortunately, 'Heavier Than Heaven, Lonelier Than God' didn't have the same immediate effect on me as their debut and because I bought so many records on that day I've not given it a real chance to become a favourite.

Delivered on blue and black splatter vinyl in heavy cardboard cover this looks and feels very nice. It looks very emo, in a goth angular haircut way, and the lyrics deal with suicide, negative feelings, alienation, broken relationships and it screams 'TEENAGER!'.

The music veers from furious modern hardcore to Sabbathy influenced blues licks. In a way it feels a little like a more straight forward Life Of Agony, but heavier on the hardcore and less reliant on Elvis emo. The vocals are powerfully delivered in a fairly stock hardcore roar which sometimes change in an attempt to address melody.

Blacklisted are not offensive, but they are not impressive either. The album is produced by Converge's Kurt Ballou at his famous God City studio, designed by Converge's vocalist Jacob Bannon and appears on his Deathwish label.

I'd imagine Blacklisted would go down well fourth from top at a Deathwish all dayer in Cleveland. The kids would throw their kicks and slam their fists to their unremarkable yet passionate hardcore. Ringworm would come on afterwards and the fat bald guys would tut at the kids and push a few of them over. Maybe Give up the Ghost would do a reunion and everybody would lose their sh*t to Jeremy Beadle and his morose cohorts as they bleated about how unremarkable the reception was compared to their expectations. Then the bizarrely successful Converge would take the stage and everybody would pretend to like them and baldy 'neck' on vocals.

Peace