The Black League – Ghost Brothel

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Out for a fifth full-length release, Finland’s heavy rock outfit The Black League spent almost two solid years writing, recording and re-writing the songs that would become Ghost Brothel, going in less traditional directions than they had originally planned. Opening pair (after the intro track) Southern Scars & Curse and Malabarista sound like Down playing a Clutch song, before the band settle into a heavy rock ‘n’ roll sound akin to Chrome Division, The Almighty or a heavy AC/DC on tracks like Bones And Thangs, Joke’s Over, No Parole and Heavy Downer, and a heavy blues groove a la Michael Katon or Eric Gales on Misfortune and the title track. Vin Mariani opens with a bar-room jazz mood before delivering another Clutch-esque riff later on and Bipolar Meltdown achieves a similar thing with a Gov’t Mule feel. Ghost Brothel is both the band’s most accomplished release to date, and one of the best hard rock records this year; a constantly interesting listen, and heavy as hell.

Written by Andy Lye
More: Albums, Hard Rock, Quick.Play Reviews, The Black League