ALBUM REVIEW: Blackjack Symphony – Experime’

Dust off your best air guitar as BLACKJACK SYMPHONY’s Experime’ blows your socks off!

The new release from BLACKJACK SYMPHONY sounds like it has come straight out of Bruce Dickinson’s studio and it is a lot of fun!

The record kicks off with Kamikaze. Headbanging from the get-go with this classic hard rock track. Nothing too unique about this track but will sound familiar and enjoyable. First impressions were just how similar Matt Keever’s vocals are to IRON MAIDEN’s Bruce Dickinson.

Next up is Addiction, which begins in heavy rock and roll fashion. Slowing the pace slightly with a moodier tone. Addiction’s vocal work has hints of AVENGED SEVENFOLD’s M. Shadows. Two tracks in and Keever is already displaying fantastic vocal range. Another solid track.

The third track, Don’t Tell Me, is the WHITESNAKE-esque ballad. A sad breakup song that will resonate with a lot of people.

Anybody follows and is back to the heavy headbanging guitar riffs. A mediocre song compared to the earlier tracks, until the catchy chorus hits and I couldn’t help but chant along ‘Anybody! (HEAR ME, HEAR ME) Can you see me now? I’m falling’. Deeper vocals are featured in this track, once again proving Keever has a great vocal range.

At the midpoint of the album, Criminal features more of the same. What caught my attention with this track was the awesome guitar solo.

On to Hangman. This had the most intriguing intro on the record up to this point sounding like something from a Western movie. The marching drums continue through the entire track. This is a personal favourite of mine.

Then we have Six Gun Chalet, which begins oddly. The sound of boots walking on a wooden floor can be heard faintly behind a radio playing a passage from the Bible’s Psalm 1. It is interrupted by somebody saying ‘…tell him to shut up and let’s get this over with’ followed by some thumping sounds which reminds me of an old hanging, followed by clapping. After claiming Hangman has the most intriguing intro, I ate my words on the following track! I believe it could be a snippet taken from an old Western movie, possibly a John Wayne or Clint Eastwood classic. After the intro, the organ use really adds to the epic nature before the track breaks out into a catchy rock and roll song!

The title track slows the pace down again. Another ballad with some belting choruses! Then it back to some good ol’ fashioned headbanging with the penultimate track, Yeti. Some interesting vocal work again in this track, especially the eerie sounding ‘Ahhhhhh’s.

The final track, Napoleon, begins in an epic fashion with the sound of explosions leading into a marching drum and what sounds like clock bells. As the title suggests, this is a song about Napoleon Bonaparte and his conquests. ‘All kill Napoleon, all fear Napoleon’is chanted and is a very catchy sequence of lyrics!

BLACKJACK SYMPHONY have made a good record! The influences shine through in certain places on the album which in sections made it feel unoriginal, however, other sections are completely new and even a little bizarre!

Rating: 7/10

Words: Jack Andrews

Experime’ is out now.

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