(TheBRHM.com) I touched on Three, a Cleveland-based band featuring Black Death singer Siki Spacek in his usual roles as vocalists and guitarist. Is it a continuation of Black Death Resurrected and Black Death? Not exactly, but with Siki’s involvement, you’ll notice a lot of the two aforementioned bands’ influences on their sound.
We’ll have to dive into this project as there was no listed demos or other projects before the full-length debut for Three. It simply dropped in March 2023 via Black Mold Records, a label that has typically released sludge metal and doom metal projects.
Now, a label’s usual output doesn’t indicate that’s all you’re going to find. You could look through the catalog of a black metal label and find some old school metal in the mix of album releases by bands on the label.
In the case of Three, the release is in the slower waters of doom but with a late 70s-early 80s metal sound. Not so much Black Sabbath but more like a grimier Cirith Ungol with some healthy splashes of Brocas Helm thrown in.
A major contributing factor to that approach is the tandem of multi-instrumentalist Corey Bing and guitarist/bass player Bahb Branca. The two are Ohio sludge scene veterans who have played in several acts together—many most with releases on Black Mold Records.
Opening Act of Three
Three has seven tracks across almost 31-minutes. The opener is “County Line”, a track that gives “controlled Brocas Helm” vibes. It’s not a rapid jaunt but it’s not s slog either, we’re talking about a pounder that gives the listener some idea of what to expect sonically. This song and “Red Dragon” have a kind of dungeon epicness to it—especially “Red Dragon”.
That track really piqued my interest in the rest of album because it reminds me of what I like to hear from epic heavy metal or U.S power metal: not too produced or clean but still epic in a Conan or Kull sense.
While “Red Dragon” really impressed, “For Your Love”, the second track on the album is the standout of the opening three songs. The longest track on the album, “For Your Love” is a slower-paced affair but it showed what this trio could do with a lengthier piece.
Strongest Tracks: For Your Love, Red Dragon
Second Act
The fourth “Missing You” is somewhat similar to “For Your Love” only shorter and heavier. The doom is much thicker here. “Remember” is a longer rocker that could’ve been on Black Death. It still has that cavernous sound and slower-tempo while not being similar to other tunes on the album.
If you like your dark and slow romantic doom then “When Your Love Comes Down” might not be too up your alley. It’s notably faster than other tracks on Three and it gets the thumbs up from me. One thing I always liked about old school doom is that you could get a speeder on a slower-paced or mid-tempo release and it would stand out—sometimes as if it was the star of the show such as “Free Country” from Witchfinder General’s Death Penalty.
Closing out the album is “Mirror of Darkness”, a song that has a similar tempo to “When Your Love Comes Down” and gave me more of what I was seeking from this release lyrically: fantasy or dark fantasy themes. It’s a strong closer and could’ve been a stronger opener.
Strongest Tracks: Missing You, When Your Love Comes Down*, Mirror of Darkness*
Strength of the Opener: County Line
Opening tracks are very important since they can set the pace for the album or give the listener an idea of what they’re getting into. The faster and more bombastic, the stronger the opening, for me. In the case of Three, “County Line” is an opener: not the strongest but not the worst choice to kick things off.
However, tunes like “For Your Love”, “Red Dragon”, and the closer “Mirror of Darkness” are very strong picks to open the album just by being the standout tracks on this release.
Staff Writer; James “Metal” Swift Jr.
This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.