There’s a delicious irony to pressing play on Black Peaks’ debut full-length, ‘Statues’, immediately following the proofreading of a dozen album reviews, the majority of which question originality. Judging by these alone, inventiveness is music’s Holy Grail, to be found only by navigating a subterranean tomb of mediocrity. With ‘Statues’, Black Peaks have bulldozed their way through the chasms, leaving exploded rubble in their path in favour of the shiny chalice.
‘Glass Built Castles’ continues to turn heads since its release towards the start of 2015, finding its rightful place as the thunderous opener to ‘Statues’. Its sheer unpredictability is pleasantly exhausting and clearly not an isolated success. Any danger that Black Peaks couldn’t live up to the standard of their debut single is immediately quashed. ‘Statues’ is filled with breath-taking twists and turns that stop you in your tracks, beaming with an unabashed eccentricity. It’s the sound of those who have never seen the box, never mind needed to think outside of it.
Each track lives up to the last, cementing Black Peaks’ unclassifiable sound. For a debut it’s exceptionally brave, ‘Drone’ spending a large proportion of its six-plus minutes as a rising swell before detonating another audible explosion. Will Gardner’s unusual vocal shrieks find themselves matched by intricate instrumentation, ebbing and flowing from the powerful to the subdued with ease. The subtle Tool reference in ‘Drone’ by no means accidental, channelling the icons’ ability to enthral with the extraordinary.
The equally epic – seven minute epic that is – ‘Hang Em High’ is brutal, moving from a Muse-esque soundscape to relentlessly unsettling barbarism that lingers for the perfect amount of time, its minute-long outro brazenly uncut. Launching into the disarmingly sultry opening tones of ‘Set In Stone’, the complexities aren’t only reserved for the longer tracks. Black Peaks manage to turn the vastly unusual into the immensely listenable. ‘Statues’ never pushes its innovation, instead weaving it into each individual track.
As with its namesake, ‘Statues’ will be in place for many years to come. Contrary to that, Black Peaks show no signs of standing still. Every moment on ‘Statues’ pushes the record further forward with an eccentricity that would make Queen blush. Black Peaks have created a masterpiece with ‘Statues’, and I definitely don’t use that term lightly.
BEN TIPPLE