The third record by hard
rock supergroup Black Map exudes quality. The writing is consistently
excellent throughout, the playing is as tight as it gets and it’s all expertly
produced, mixed and packaged. There are riffs aplenty, soaring choruses and
mellow detours in all the right places. The twist here is me getting into the
work of a ‘supergroup’ when I have no knowledge of any of the bands that the constituent
members were in originally: Far, Dredg, and Trophy Fire
all passed me by. Backtracking to them a little, the post-hardcore and prog of
the members’ earlier stuff certainly makes sense as a backdrop to Melodoria,
but this is much more mainstream territory. Highly Suspect are a comparator (which scans, given they’ve toured with Black Map), as are Red Light Company. Melodoria
has been a go to for me this year when I have needed a bit of a soul lift, cause every
song raises the spirits and is uber-produced to just glide into the ear. The
flip of all that is that it isn’t exactly a ground-breaking record, and
I’m unsure what longevity it’ll have as a result. ‘Supergroup’ might, therefore,
be overselling things a bit, but this is fun mainstream rock.