Blackout (Audrey Horne album)
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| Studio album by Audrey Horne | ||||
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Publication |
January 12, 2018 |
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| Label (s) | Napalm Records | |||
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Title (number) |
10 |
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running time |
42 min 14 s |
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Kato Ådland |
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Studio (s) |
Fort Knox, Bergen |
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Blackout is the sixth studio album by the Norwegian hard rock band Audrey Horne . It was released on January 12, 2018 via Napalm Records .
Emergence
While the band wrote the songs together in the rehearsal room on the suggestion of singer Torkjell Rød on the previous album Pure Heavy , Audrey Horne returned to her previous way of working for Blackout . The two guitarists Arve Isdal and Thomas Tofthagen each wrote new songs for themselves, which were then worked out together with the rest of the band members. This process dragged on over three years. Audrey Horne largely avoided concerts. The return to the previous way of working is also a reaction to the last album, for which, according to Torkjell Rød, the band should have taken more time. In the rehearsal room riffs and melodies were worked out for around seventy songs, which were then viewed in Thomas Tofthagen's house. The recorded ideas were divided into three categories: songs that should be further developed, songs that have good riffs or refrains and songs that did not meet the demands of the musicians. In this way, 30 of the 70 ideas were processed further. Bassist Espen Lien had written an intro for the song Satellite , but didn't know how to continue. The band then wrote seven different versions of the song until the final version was finalized. In addition, the new material was tested for live suitability at concerts long before it was released. Examples are titles such as Naysayer or Rose Alley .
Was taken blackout in the studio Fort Knox in Bergen . The studio is located in the port of the city in the area for international shipping . The band needed a permit to enter the facilities and the musicians had to show their IDs every day . Produced and mixed was blackout of Kato Ådlund who has previously worked mostly in pop music. Ådlund also played the third guitar on the song This Is War and co-wrote the song This One . While the band was of the opinion that the song was already finished, Ådlund composed the final part. Ivar Sandøy helped with the mixing, while Herbrand Larsen mixed the song Audrevolution . The mastering was done by Ivar Sandøy. A total of 13 songs were recorded in the studio. A cowbell was used for the theme song Blackout and Audrevolution . Other guest musicians were also used. Ove Gaassand played the Hammond organ on This One , Light Your Way , California and This Is War . Matias Monsen played the cello with Juggernaut and This Is War . Silje Wergeland sang on the songs This Is War and Audrevolution , on the latter together with Linda-Fay Hela. Herbrand Larsen played the piano at Audrevolution .
publication
The album cover is by Asle Birkeland and shows a man in a shirt and tie standing in the water. A squid can be seen in the shirt pocket . The band had dealt a lot in advance with the album covers of Storm Thorgerson and initially wanted to introduce a kind of band mascot like Iron Maiden's Eddie . Later singer Torkjell Rød thought about what the band would be like. So he came up with a white shirt with a black tie, as he often wears these clothes at concerts. Rød found the squid in the shirt through a fountain pen in his breast pocket and an ink stain on his shirt.
"The photographer just said very dryly that the guy in the shirt would have to stand in the water to do it really weird."
The limited digipak version of the album also contains the songs Juggernaut and The End as a bonus . The LP version contains the ten regular songs from the album and appears on black, transparent and gold vinyl. The two bonus tracks are included on a separate 7 "single . The digital version of the album contains only the ten regular songs on the album. For the songs This Is War and Audrevolution were music videos rotated. Parallel to the album release, the band brings in cooperation with the brewery 7 Fjell Bryggeri from Bønes the beer blackout on the market. It is a New England India Pale Ale .
background
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The album title Blackout came about after the album cover was finished. However, the album title does not have a special meaning. According to Torkjell Rød, the opening song This Is War would be a kind of “war call” for hard rock bands and their audience in the sense of “We against the rest of the world”. However, the band would also criticize the "stupidity of the global leadership" with the song. Midnight Man is about drinking alcohol . Naysayer is a criticism of social media . According to singer Torkjell Rød, this would give everyone a voice, which he generally thinks is good. However, he criticizes the fact that many people would treat social media negatively
“... but many people deal with it in a very negative way. Negative utterances are easy and quick to pronounce, making it far too easy to discredit people . That has taken on grotesque features. "
The term naysayer ( Engl. : Naysayers ) would, according Torkjell Rød sound better than all the other words that he previously tried. The song Rose Alley was originally called Rosalie . Thomas Tofthagen then suggested that the song be given a different name, otherwise fans would expect a Thin Lizzy number. This is how the title Rose Alley came about . For the audience noise at the beginning and end of the song, the band took the song Sherry Darling from Bruce Springsteen's album The River as a model.
reception
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Reviews
The German magazines Deaf Forever , Metal Hammer and Rock Hard each voted Blackout their album of the month. According to Andreas Himmelstein from Deaf Forever, the album sounds "so incredibly relaxed, carefree and natural, as if it were a debut". The Norwegians would "like no other band manage to give their preferences for classic acts such as Thin Lizzy , Rainbow , Wishbone Ash or Deep Purple an absolutely contemporary and individual touch". The album would contain “ten hits, all of which you wish to appear in the live program on the upcoming tour”. Himmelstein awarded nine out of ten points. According to Matthias Weckmann from Metal Hammer, in contrast to the previous album Pure Heavy, there would be "no more trace of old-school rock", rather "it would hail modern adrenaline rushes". You have to "celebrate the classics of history just as passionately, artfully and lively to ensure that rock 'n' roll continues to play an important role beyond the turn of the year 2017/2018". Since the album would be “just as playfully easy as it was compositionally magnificent”, Weckmann awarded six out of seven points. Thomas Kupfer from Rock Hard described Blackout as a “good mood album” that “in its entirety would be an extremely tasteful foray into hard rock history” that “is included with the listener for free”. Kupfer awarded nine out of ten points for the album.
Sebastian Berlich from the German magazine Visions , for whom the album primarily delivers "half-baked word games, absurd clichés and, in the meantime, veritable hits", was more critical . The band would "again test the resilience of the good-natured old warhorse Classic Rock with the usual mixed results". Berlich awarded six out of twelve points.
Chart placements
Blackout reached number 37 in Germany, number 46 in Switzerland and number 68 in the Austrian album charts. For Audrey Horne it was the first chart placements in Switzerland and Austria .
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Frank Thiessies: No contract with Alice Cooper . In: Metal Hammer , February 2018, page 54
- ↑ Martin Römpp: Only the stage counts . In: Rocks , edition 01/2018, page 9
- ↑ a b c d Thomas Kupfer: Order is half of life . In: Rock Hard , January 2018, page 54
- ↑ a b Markus Endres: Audrey Horne interview with singer Torkjell "Toschie" Rød on "Blackout". Metal.de, accessed on January 24, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c d e Lothar Hausfeld: Classic Rock with Squid . In: Deaf Forever , No. 21, p. 22
- ↑ Audrey Horne in the Norwegian charts. Hung Medien, accessed October 21, 2014 (Norwegian).
- ↑ Audrey Horne in the German charts. GfK Entertainment , accessed January 20, 2018 .
- ↑ Audrey Horne in the Swiss charts. Hung Medien, accessed January 24, 2018 .
- ↑ Audrey Horne in the Austrian charts. Hung Medien, accessed January 24, 2018 .
- ↑ Andreas Himmelstein: Audrey Horne - Blackout . In: Deaf Forever, No. 21, page 90
- ^ Matthias Weckmann: Audrey Horne - Blackout. Metal Hammer. Retrieved December 13, 2017 .
- ↑ Thomas Kupfer: Audrey Horne - Blackout . In: Rock Hard, January 2018, page 87
- ↑ Sebastian Berlich: Audrey Horne - Blackout . In: Visions , issue 298, p. 112