The Black Delta Movement – Recovery Effects
Recovery Effects release date, April 14th 2023 on Fuzz Club Records
The Black Delta Movement from the UK has released their second album ‘Recovery Effects’. The music is saturated with dark undertones an ominous stalking predator crawling around each slinking note. The fuzzed lead guitar gives vintage tones while the rhythm guitar lays out staccato chords that support the vocals. The vocals are droning bringing a cultish sound with splashes of grunge era ‘whatever, who gives a F*ck’ vibes. The music is dark psychedelic rock complete with vintage organ but no sign of peace, love and flowers. Instead it is a horror movie visual enhanced with tracks titled, ‘Fourth Pass Over The Grave Yard’ and ‘Hiding in the Tall Grass’.
The Black Delta Movement has a unique sound however, one could extrapolate that bands such as The Black Angels, The Velvet Underground, calmer moments of Nirvana and The Jesus and Mary Chain maybe inspirations. The psychedelic rock style is infused with contemporary and 90s influences with the occasional moments of Southern Delta.
The strength of Recovery Effects is in the cohesive way the songs are written and the sassy instrumentation especially the guitars which stand forward in the mix. The drum and bass are well placed, essential and mostly in a supportive role while the guitars interlace wonderfully capped with the vocals. The music comes together as a whole with each player knowing their space and time to shine while supporting the greater effect of the song.
The Black Delta Movement did not have an easy road to this second album. The debut album Preservation was released in 2018 followed by a big tour. They opened for legendary contemporary psych bands like The Brian Jonestown Massacre playing over 300 concerts. Once the live music scene was completely shut down globally due to the pandemic The Black Delta Movement was left with just one band member uncertain of the future. Matt Burr the main creative force behind the band decided to move forward and bring on new band members. The new line-up contributed heavily to the writing process which is described by Burr as highly collaborative. The producer Malcolm Catto of The Heliocentrics was highly involved giving feedback like, ‘Right, that’s the song but we’re just gonna rip it up a little bit’.
The first single, ‘Fourth Passover The Graveyard’ is an honest expression of the challenges of losing the original band and moving forward with his music. The song starts with a fuzzy lo fi guitar riff then the rest of the band jumps in with a clean picked guitar punchy hollow body bass and tight drumming. The organ plays a repetitive chord and the vocals have a brooding foreboding tone. The guitar solos are dominated by effects and otherworldly tones that take form. These sections stand out from the lightly overdriven rhythm guitar and the dirty fuzzy guitar. The song is droning, dark, and the layers of atmospheric instruments grow and evolve against the steady rhythm section. The music video shows images of the band overlayed on desert landscapes, vintage videos of cars and nature.
The third single ‘Photograph’ keeps on with the reverb vocals and feeling like the next episode in the series. This track has hints of major scales with a more uplifting sound relative to the rest of the album. The songs on Recovery Effects neatly compliment each other allowing the arc of the album to feel like a story with a variety of textures and emotions.
The second single ‘Zip-Tie’ is firmly on the creepy side of their sound and one of the darkest songs on the album. The lyrics speaking of hangings, distain, and fear of the dark. The bridge of the song has a heavy helicopter tremolo that creates and auditory illusion of strobing sound. The guitars get wild as the song draws to a climatic blow-out crescendo.
The Black Delta Movement’s second album Recovery Effect is the most captivating and eerie album from the band. The songs are well produced with daft coordination between band members. Each instrument is part of a larger vision and each song feels linked to the other on the album. The strange ominous darkness swirls like a fog around the music on Recovery Effect. These elements draw the listener back again and again to experience this unique quality of the album.
The Black Delta Movement – Recovery Effects
Recovery Effects release date, April 14th 2023 on Fuzz Club Records
https://fuzzclub.bandcamp.com/album/recovery-effects-2
