5th December 2024

Review: “Principium 2.0” by Carbon Black

“We’ve progressed so much as a band, and as musicians, we really want to have the songs represent how we play them now. I think most bands will say that in the course of 10 years, you play the songs live, and they morph and evolve, and assume their own identity. The songs grow up – like your own children. You compare a newborn to a 10-year-old, and they’re very different. And that’s how the songs have grown too. We play them a lot more energetically these days. This time around I think we’ve captured better performances. When we started the band, we wanted to play live, really get around and play great shows, travel and play as much as we could. We’ve toured a lot, and had some amazing support slots – we’ve had many opportunities to play with our heroes.” ~ Rob Giles, bass.

Produced and mixed by Lachlan Mitchell (Nazxul, Burden Man, Raising Ravens), a re-recording of “Principium 2.0” a decade after the original first saw the cold light of day might not be everyone’s cup of tea. But for Australians Carbon Black, following in the footsteps of Arch Enemy, the Cavalera brothers and Anthrax to name but a few gives them a fresh opportunity. To capture better performances of songs fans know and live with the energy of their live performances.

A classic Pantera influenced deep Southern Groove Metal riff from Damon Bishop gives “Mourn” (rebranded from the original “Mourning“) the kind power that you want in a track, raising the hairs on the back of the neck before the clean emotively tinged vocal from Jonathan Hurley comes into play. He adds an almost Grunge like quality to the track and it has to be said his vocals have improved over the past decade, so the first tune falls into the same kind of arena as bands like Nonpoint without the Nu-Metal introspection. “Blood and Sacrifice” has a gruffer vocal to it, the harsh qualities of the first verse something sorely missing from the first cut because that added aggression suits the guitar tone so much better. A controlled solo is a nice touch, it doesn’t have the free flamboyance of a live show but it does offer that wow factor which we crave. The pummelling rhythm section of bassist Rob and Steve Giles come into their own on cuts like “Fade Away“, the partnership baring its teeth with the instantly appealing headbangable groove passages. The solo on this one is slicker with that face melting edge as the sing-a-long lyrics from Hurley command attention and while may not get you on the first spin but by the second you’ll be hooked.

Almost doubling the duration of the next longest track “Deceive Deny” runs to the better part of six and a half minutes, enthralling and captivating throughout. As with all of the tracks, this one is shorter than the original, the tweaks from their live performances over the past decade making each one a more streamlined experience. Tribal beats wrap around a solo in the final third before Hurley brings this one home, some death growls demonstrating his impressive vocal range once more. Slightly rougher around the edges than the earlier cuts as if recorded in a different studio with slightly different gear “Obey” brings the collection home with good use of vocal layering. That allows Hurley to underpin his cleans with uncleans to give the impression of two vocalists as he stomps his way through the lyrics like a beast on the rampage. Revitalised and rejuvenated, “Principium 2.0” takes the original record and injects it with a shot of adrenaline, leaning on the bands live experience to give each tune a bit more verve and swagger while making them shorter and sharper at the same time. The result is a collection which finds the band at the height of their prowess, the songs delivered by a well oiled machine who know just how well received they have been when performed live [7.5/10]

Track Listing