After a pretty unimpressive debut, Blackguard pops back on the radar with its second full-length in Firefight. After seeing these guys open for Nevermore and Warbringer in October I was left somewhat impressed; in the live setting the band was pretty stellar, even if vocalist Paul Zinay was a little too hyper for my taste. That said the band was really quite fine and I was truly hoping the same for this record.

Right from the start of the title track the keyboards fail to delight or impress me, especially when they offer these short little wisps of atmosphere by way of half-notes and sporadic “uhs” and “ahs” posing as musical punctuation marks. While they provide the proper aura for the track, in varying spots it is vehemently overdone. What I hear on Firefight is a Children of Bodom-meets-current-Dark Tranquility vibe that relies more on flash than actual song resonance. The guitar work is quite good, as is the drumming capabilities, utilizing the double bass assault to its absolutely peak, yet there always seems to be something missing….something not quite there in all facets.

I must admit, as the album goes on the keyboards bother me more not because I take umbrage with the instrument, but because the total reliance on this instrument here is subjugated saturation. It becomes more powerful than the guitars, which is not a positive direction when you have two adequate guitarists in the fold. I’m no stranger to the keys bringing life to certain music, but when bands like Bodom and some other nameless few just become dependent on it I lose interest fast. To be honest, this album could resound better as a soundtrack to a comic book or some anime episode than a metal album on its own merit. It’s just drowned in the enemy of atmosphere with no room for decisiveness or originality.

What I find tremendously sorrowful is the band is a very good band, especially in the live setting, but the lackluster appeal of the tracks here is a deal-breaker all around. These bands are a dime-a-dozen now, with more following the fray into the nomadic recesses of triviality by not setting apart from the flock. The couple of bright spots in “Cruel Hands”, where the guitars absolutely shred, and “The Path”, which is as close to crushing metal as this album gets, do little to save what otherwise might have been a damn fine album. As I say, the musicianship is really tight and the ideas formulated are really okay in and of themselves, but the unforgiving specter of this wanton void of ‘essence’ and ‘atmosphere’ is what ultimately kills an album from the get-go. The shame is elevated by the fact that these guys have the chops to produce some serious metal music, and while the album here is leaps and bounds over the first effort there is still some work to be done.    

TRACK LISTING

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*Comments:

1.  Tephra
2.  Firefight
3.  Farewell
4.  Wastelands
5.  Cruel Hands
6.  Iblis
7.  The Fear Of All Flesh
8.  A Blinding Light
9.  The Path
10.  Sarissas

Total playing time:  43:32

Release Date: March 29, 2011
Label: Victory Records

Blackguard - Firefight

Reviewer: Chris

April 27, 2011