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BLACK MAGICK SS
Rainbow Nights

Infinite Wisdom (2020)
Rating: 8.5/10

Now here’s an interesting band that I’m so glad aren’t just another occult-obsessed, female fronted doom act obsessed with 70s satanic movies while worshipping marijuana. Although I’m sure that the peculiarly named Black Magick SS from Australia has its vices.

Rainbow Nights is a cosmic trip into fantasy land; a weird yet oh so right blend of nostalgia yet futuristic synth rock that for some reason has me reaching for my Warning (the odd, dark wave-cum-doom 80s act from Germany) vinyl.

It deserves its place in Metal Forces because there are strong New Wave Of British Heavy Metal styles applied, and let’s not forget those at times gruff and unsettling vocals. I can see many a reviewer throwing such an album into the stoner / doom pot, but there’s a lot more to this that meets the third eye, the mysterious clan providing a weird, psychedelic soundtrack of hellish hallucinations, eerie folk horror soundscapes and sinister, yet heightened synth sensibilities.

Within it all there’s still a cool and mysterious hard rock album, as witnessed on the kaleidoscopic opener ‘Endless Hallucinations’, while the title track is a deft dose of galactic prog rock. This is the sort of drama the 70s got bogged down with. Only in this case, Black Magick SS take such a brand to new levels of fancy, speeding up such a self-indulgent art and daubing it with an unnerving vocal sneer before further epic vocal croons come to the fore, soaring above the pink clouds as those driving synths toy with equal frantic guitar parts. It’s all a very intriguing marrying of styles without ever being complex.

‘Get Out’ simmers nicely, being Gothic in its fluent strains, dark wave… new wave… who or what is it? Does it belong? Meanwhile, ‘Kali’ features a strong and sinister guitar tone, with flecks of Angel Witch in that brooding trudge of unintentional doom. Damn, it’s a steely, fiery riff wrenched from the early 80s as again I’m reminded of the mystical Warning. Then we have that schizophrenic vocal. Initially it’s that devilish demonic growl, but the chorus brings something more commanding and higher while the killer riff remains, burning and weaving through this Technicolor landscape. I’m soaking it in, seeing these guys opening for, say, Ghost, but kinda hoping they won’t become embroiled in such a “scene”, such is the mesmeric and original quality of this coven.

‘Mothers Lullaby’ feels dramatic, epic and progressive. Black Magick SS take me on a weird, slightly unsettling floating trip – the vocal effects send a tingle as the track expands, stretching out like a vast palatial view of twinkling synths.

Finally, we’re at the closing track ‘The Truth’ where that gravelled vocal grin works in tandem with another dirty yet jaunty riff. It’s clever stuff, occult-laced and brimming with mysticism. “You want it… you need it” are words I’ll repeat back to anyone who needs to hear the “next best thing” in music. Some may argue that the album lacks “metal”, but just check out the killer axe work on this last track.

Black Magick SS is a heavy rock act with a difference, so take the trip and enjoy the ride to the dark side.

Neil Arnold

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