Black Wing - ...Is Doomed (Album Review)

 

Black Wing - …Is Doomed

(2015)


My copy: 2015 first pressing by Flenser Records and Enemies List Home Recordings


Dan Barrett is the front man of three core projects with the most famous being the depressive shoegaze band Have A Nice Life. While Barrett’s other two projects aren’t quite as well known as Have A Nice Life, they both have unique sounds to offer fans of Barrett’s style. Giles Corey is Barrett’s second project while Black Wing is his third and most recent. Releasing in 2015, …Is Doomed sought to focus primarily on striking a balance between electronic synthesizers and heavy, sampled drums. Mix in Barrett’s vocal skills and lots of reverb and you have an unconventional album that touches on moods that you’d never hear out of Have A Nice Life or Giles Corey.

“Luther” sets out immediately to prove that this record is different from the largely dark tones and instrumentals that are present in Barrett’s other works. Bright synth arpeggiations chirp and blink over heavy reverb-soaked drum loops while Barrett’s vocals add moodiness to an otherwise somewhat happy sounding piece of synth-wave. …Is Doomed might be Barrett’s most colorful work ever. “Black Wing” bounds into existence with heavy lo-fi drum loops set to windy atmospheric noise. “Black Wing” boasts the most catchy pop hooks and choruses, even adding in claps to back the echoed vocalizations. 

Grumbled and distorted, “My Body Betrayed Me” boils to surface right after “Black Wing” and grows into a curtain of synth textures with a vocal chorus that swells with the digital instruments. “Unemployed” is the strangest experiment, with a delayed beat and stuttering vocal synths; this track has the darkest tone and is wrung out with feedback in the end. Barrett shows again that he is capable of composing brighter, happier sounding songs on the instrumental interlude of “DSA” which hosts pounding percussion that becomes illuminated by cheery electronic melodies.

“Death Sentences” morphs into an unrelenting barrage of synth and vocals after beginning as a groovy and airy breath of fresh air. The best track by far is the foreboding and mysterious “If I Let Him In” which feels like the theme of an evil sentient computer virus. The bass buzzes and fills the spaces left by the sampled woodblock percussion while Barrett’s repeated mantra beckons to the audience. “If I Let Him In” makes use of dynamics to create suspense before dropping listeners into one of its carefully crafted crescendos. 

…Is Doomed is a great venture into another avenue for Barrett, though it is not a monumental release and still suffers from some lo-fi hurdles. To hear a hypothetical album that could successfully marry Have A Nice Life’s heavy guitars to the dense synth layering of …Is Doomed would perhaps produce amazing results.

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