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Black Metal (Dean Blunt album)

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Black Metal
Studio album by
Dean Blunt
Released3 November 2014 (2014-11-03)
GenreArt pop[1]
Length52:31
LabelRough Trade
ProducerDean Blunt
Dean Blunt chronology
The Redeemer
(2013) 		Black Metal
(2014) 		Black Metal 2
(2021)

Black Metal is an album by British musician Dean Blunt, released by Rough Trade Records on 3 November 2014.[2] The album features vocals from Blunt and frequent collaborator Joanne Robertson.[3] Musically, the album is structured more conventionally than Blunt's previous work, but is diverse in instrumentation and genre.

Background and composition

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Black Metal includes elements of post-punk, post-rock, indie pop, folk, Americana, dub, ambient, grime, and dancehall.[1][4] Critics have also noted the prose of Blunt's lyrics as being similar to present day hip hop lyrics, which often reflect dark subjects like infidelity and alcoholism.[5]

Blunt has stated that the album was inspired by what he saw as a personal artistic liberation away from the appropriation of "existing old white images" toward "something that is undefined and is new".[3][6][7]

In June 2021, Blunt released a sequel album, Black Metal 2.[8]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.5/10[9]
Metacritic79/100[10]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Fact4.5/5[11]
The Guardian[12]
Mojo[13]
NME9/10[14]
The Observer[4]
Pitchfork7.3/10[1]
Q[15]
Resident Advisor4.5/5[2]
Uncut8/10[16]

Black Metal currently has a score of 79 on Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[10] Critics praised Blunt's emotional range and directness on the album.[2][3] In a review for The Observer, Killian Fox wrote that Blunt had created "some of the most achingly beautiful music recorded this year."[4] Writing for Pitchfork, Colin Joyce called the album "disjointed" but praised the album for its sound and for Blunt's clearer, more pop-oriented style compared to his previous work.[1] However, AllMusic's Andy Kellman criticised the album for being "quantity-over-quality" and for what Kellman saw as a derivative sound.[5] Michael Hann characterised the album in The Guardian as a needlessly difficult listen that was sometimes repetitive, but nonetheless praised it as "extraordinary."[12]

Accolades

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Black Metal placed first on Tiny Mix Tapes' and Crack Magazine's lists of best albums from 2014.[17][18] The latter also named it the best album of the 2010s.[19][20]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Dean Blunt, except where noted. All tracks are produced by Blunt

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Lush"
1:58
2."50 Cent" 2:35
3."Blow" 2:31
4."100"
3:20
5."Heavy" 1:58
6."Molly & Aquafina" 4:06
7."Forever" 13:00
8."X" 8:54
9."Punk" 2:34
10."Country" 2:10
11."Hush" 1:16
12."Mersh" 3:25
13."Grade" 4:45

Notes

  • All tracks are stylized in all caps. For example, "Lush" is stylized as "LUSH".

Sample credits

  • ^[a] "Lush" contains a sample of "For You", written by Stephens and performed by Big Star.
  • ^[b] "100" contains a sample of "Over My Shoulder", written by McRobbie and performed by The Pastels.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Joyce, Colin (17 November 2014). "Dean Blunt: Black Metal". Pitchfork. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  2. ^ a b c Ryce, Andrew (3 November 2014). "Dean Blunt – Black Metal". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  3. ^ a b c Eede, Christian (10 November 2014). "Dean Blunt – Black Metal". The Quietus. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  4. ^ a b c Fox, Killian (1 November 2014). "Dean Blunt: Black Metal review – a work of strange dichotomies". The Observer. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  5. ^ a b c Kellman, Andy. "Black Metal – Dean Blunt". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  6. ^ Chandler, Simon. "Dean Blunt – Black Metal". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  7. ^ "Dean Blunt FM : Black Metal Thesis".
  8. ^ "Dean Blunt Releasing New Album BLACK METAL 2 This Week". Pitchfork. 8 June 2021.
  9. ^ "Black Metal by Dean Blunt reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  10. ^ a b "Reviews for Black Metal by Dean Blunt". Metacritic. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  11. ^ Hall, Josh (3 November 2014). "Dean Blunt: Black Metal". Fact. Archived from the original on 28 May 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  12. ^ a b Hann, Michael (30 October 2014). "Dean Blunt: Black Metal review – extraordinary, in a baffling way". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  13. ^ "Dean Blunt: Black Metal". Mojo (253): 93. December 2014.
  14. ^ Nesbitt, Huw (1 November 2014). "Dean Blunt – 'Black Metal'". NME. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  15. ^ "Dean Blunt: Black Metal". Q (341): 107. December 2014.
  16. ^ "Dean Blunt: Black Metal". Uncut (211): 72. December 2014.
  17. ^ "2014: Favorite 50 Music Releases of 2014". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  18. ^ "The ultimate, definitive Best Albums Of 2014". Anydecentmusic.com. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  19. ^ "The top 100 albums of the decade".
  20. ^ "The top 100 albums of the decade". Crack Magazine. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
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