| Black Metal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 3 November 2014 | |||
| Genre | Art pop [1] | |||
| Length | 52:31 | |||
| Label | Rough Trade | |||
| Producer | Dean Blunt | |||
| Dean Blunt chronology | ||||
| ||||
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.
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]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 7.5/10 [9] |
| Metacritic | 79/100 [10] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [5] |
| Fact | 4.5/5 [11] |
| The Guardian | [12] |
| Mojo | [13] |
| NME | 9/10 [14] |
| The Observer | [4] |
| Pitchfork | 7.3/10 [1] |
| Q | [15] |
| Resident Advisor | 4.5/5 [2] |
| Uncut | 8/10 [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]
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]
All tracks are written by Dean Blunt, except where noted. All tracks are produced by Blunt
| No. | Title | Writer(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
Sample credits
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