With a name like Black Tide, it’s evident that this band’s music is far from cute and safe. Although all the members of this metal band have yet to reach the age of 21, Black Tide has developed a mature sound like that of Velvet Revolver and Megadeth. Their debut, Light From Above, is a strong start for the Miami-based foursome. Black Tide is different from the rest of their genre due to their incorporation of different styles of music into their songs. “Warriors of Time” combines Latin flair and classic rock into an awesome head-banging jam. While “Light from Above,” the title track of the album, uniquely pairs classical piano and heavy guitar riffs together. Black Tide’s first single “Shockwave” is a great, quintessential hard-rock song: fast, heavy, and haunting. Black Tide shines bright with a Light From Above.
Island Def Jam Records has a reputation for producing incredible hip-hop music acts and it should stay that way. Their latest venture into the world of pop-punk music is a band called Ludo. Ludo’s debut album You’re Awful, I Love You is less than stellar. The cause of Ludo’s mediocrity is that their song lyrics do not match up with the actual music. Ludo thrives on creating moog-heavy, upbeat accompaniment but their lyrics tend to be more “emo” than happy, For example, their song “Love Me Dead” refers to a girl’s body as a coffin and in “Drunken Lament,” Ludo claims “self-loathing is quaint.” On top of this issue, the vocals on the album are too commercial and unoriginal; each song sounds just the same. Ludo’s Your Awful, I Love You should be retitled “We’re Awful, I Don’t Love You. “
You can check out Ludo here at their myspace page.
