Black Hawk - 2023 - Soulkeeper

(48:46; Fastball Music)

Track list:
1. Soulkeeper 4:21
2. Angry Machines 4:38
3. War Zone 5:03
4. Better Times 5:43
5. Survivor 4:44
6. Bells of Death 5:58
7. Bullet 3:06
8. Mystic 5:29
9. We Stay Strong 5:33
10. Rock 'n' Roll in My Head 4:11

Line-up:
Udo Bethke - vocals
Wolfgang Tewes - guitars
Michael Wiekenberg - bass
Ovidiu Zeres - drums
with:
Dirk Schlächter - backing vocals
Conny Bethke - backing vocals
Hanjo Gehrke - backing vocals
Mark Brühning - backing vocals


German band Black Hawk is a veteran band with a history that goes all the way back to the early 1980's, but as a recording and performing unit the band didn't really start to make any headway until after the millennium. From 2005 and onward the band has been a steady presence in the German music scene however, with eight studio albums to their name at the time of writing. Their most recent album is called "Soulkeeper", and was released through German label Fastball Music in the spring of 2023.

As one might perhaps expect from a band that had their first lease of life at the time when heavy metal was established as a popular genre rather than as an outlier in the music world, traditional heavy metal is what the band has to offer on this album. They do have their own little thing going, with a vocalist that for better or worse tends to shy away a bit from the obvious metal cliches, and a general sound that isn't directly comparable to any one specific band. They sound fairly similar to many bands with the roots back in the 1980's of course, with a few impulses drawn in from the pioneers of the 70's here and there.

The compositions tend to be fairly simple affairs, revolving around compelling riff patterns and classic style guitar soloing, with anthem style lead and backing vocal shouts as something of a recurring detail throughout. I suspect this latter aspect will inspire a good amount of audience interaction whenever these guys are playing live. Otherwise the typical songs here will feature riffs that are both meaty and tight in execution, balancing a majestic expression with a tight delivery, and then easing up on one or the other alongside adjusting pace and general intensity for subtle variations from one song to the other. General points of reference might be bands such as Accept and Manowar on one side and Saxon and Judas Priest on the other, and possibly a little bit of Black Sabbath too.

Some of the songs will stick a bit closer to the possible reference points than other, with the more loose and distorted  'Bullet' sticking closer to the sound of Saxon in my point of view, while the slower and more majestic 'Bells of Death' is much closer to the kind of landscapes Black Sabbath used to explore. The song that perhaps is closest in sound and spirit to another band is the concluding 'Rock 'n Roll in My Head' however, as this is a song that would have been a rather good fit on Judas Priest's classic album "Point of Entry" as I experience it.

The rather distinct lead vocals may not be to everyone's taste, but that will always be the case for singers with a more distinct tone and style. But for the greater majority this won't be an issue, and I believe that those who have a passion for good, old heavy metal as it was explored and executed back in the first half of the 1980's should find this production to be quite the charming experience.

Olav M. Björnsen, March 2023

Links:
https://www.black-hawk-music.de/
http://www.fastball-music.de/