The Blackwater Fever - ‘Temptator!’
Photo on previous page by Colin Bushell
The Blackwater Fever are back on our blog to get your cold sweats warmed up. Metaphors don’t have to make sense. That’s my motto. Enough of my idiosyncrasies– let’s listen to this album that they’ve called Temptator!
We reviewed “The Hurt” a while ago, but you already knew that, because you read everything we publish…
Audiophile checkpoint: if you’ve got a subwoofer or a great set of headphones, now’s the time to prepare yourself for some sumptuous lows.
Diving right in, “Love is Strange” starts things off with a cool restraint, like sunglasses in the shade. Tasty guitar playing is accentuated by a great mix with panning and swells to that suck you in and spit you out like venom from a snake bite… it’s a well-mannered mood that evolves into a mighty crescendo, with vocals that go full tilt, topped off with a guitar part shift at 3:30ish that’s so satisfying, I felt like a dog riding in the car with the window open.
“My Weakness” busts in next with bluesy boldness, bringing Black Sabbath/Soundgarden-like heaviness before shifting gears to a mellow bluesy riff that percolates like a morning cup of joe after a sleepless night. And then the vocals enter with an impassioned grittiness that gives way to a vulnerable falsetto. The dynamics astound as they deftly manipulate the waves of sound pumping out the speakers. At this point, if you’re not be completely captivated by The Blackwater Fever, you should seek medical attention.
Song three is a fantastic change up, with “The Boogie Woogie.” I actually don’t feel cool enough to listen to this track! The chorus has me hooked like a hungry trout on a barbed #8. It’s light-hearted fun, cloaked in heaviness that oozes leather-jacket-attitude.
Next up is “Ode to Ol’ John Doe,” which is reason enough for you to run out and upgrade your sound system. I’m a sucker for lows and I just love how these vocals sound. Let your brain bathe in those baritone rumbles! Cowboy campfire acoustic guitar vibes mesmerize and when the string section arrives, it’s like they sat down on the log next to me to rosin up their bow and make my heart strings vibrate with their magical, musical wizardry. If that’s not blissful enough, the background vocals pour in, drenched in an octave-down effect. I just about soiled myself. Could this song be more perfect? For the music geeks out there, you’ll appreciate the occasional bar of 3/4 and the final two notes that move brilliantly from the minor 7 to cadence on the 5th, providing just the right amount of unresolved tension. It’s a masterful use of compositional competence that manipulates the senses subconsciously to great effect! Sorry, I’ll put my geek flag away for now.
Ok. I’ve run out of words and I’m not even halfway through this album! Suffice it to say that The Blackwater Fever have got a gritty goodness that manifests itself in a multitude of cleverly convincing ways on Temptator! Seriously, just go listen to Temptator! You’ll thank me Latator!