DEATHWHITE - For a Black Tomorrow

I wouldn't normally review the album of a band I know next to nothing about, but I fucking love Deathwhite.  I do know that they hail from Pittsburgh.  I'm sure that the members have birth names, but they are credited as LM (vocals/guitars) and AM (drums).  In their only video, they are painted black.  Apparently, they have added a third member for touring purposes, but there are only two dudes on this year's For a Black Tomorrow, their debut full-length.  Aside from all that jazz, Deathwhite harken back to a simpler time when bands didn't say shit to the media.  Tool had that reputation, but if you do your homework, you'll see that they did their fair share of interviews in the olden days.

Not Deathwhite!  No, sir!  I realize that they just released Tomorrow, but they had put out a pair of extended plays (fuck you, I can spell it out if I want to) previous, of which I recommend 2015's Solitary Martyr.  So LM and AM have had plenty of time to speak to rock/metal journalists.  What do they sound like?  Yes, I would agree with you that I should probably touch on the music.  Their genus is more akin to a scent or character than a simple qualifier such as goth or prog rock.  They fall in between subgenres.  To be specific, they fall in between goth and prog rock.  Tool interbred with Katatonia?  Closer to the latter, if we're dealing with lyrics.  These songs are obsessed with suicide and depression.

I dig sadness as a topic.  Minor keys!  I dig those, too.  "The Grace of the Dark" is a sturdy opener that finds its narrator dying and wilting into oblivion.  A toe-tapper, that one.  "Contrition" is the heaviest track offered, and I can't help banging my fucking head whenever I hear it.  Sure, it causes irreparable damage to my neck, but I blame the power of the riff, for it compels me!  It also flaunts sweet guitar harmonies, as does "Poisoned," the first tune to take advantage of an acoustic guitar.  "Just Remember" has awesome vokill melodies.  By the way, those are the first four songs on Tomorrow, all sequenced and everything!

LM's voice brings Maynard James Keenan to mind.  I can sing like Maynard.  Big deal.  Whatever.  Single "Dreaming the Inverse" ends with an emotional crescendo, and I'd be lying if I said that the lyrics didn't hit home.  Usually, your enjoyment of a piece of art corresponds with your ability to relate to it.  That's what's happening here, but it's also just a good fucking album.  However, it's not perfect!  Things dissolve a tad after "Dreaming the Inverse," an apogee of sorts.  "Death and the Master," "Prison of Thought" and the title track are growing on me, though.  It matters none.  I'm recommending the shit out of For a Black Tomorrow.  I've listened to it nonstop for two weeks, if that tells you anything.