[album review] black bag - beyond the sky

Black Bag - Beyond the Sky

release date: january 11, 2012 

1. White One

2. Free

3. Beyond the Sky

4. Beautiful Morning

5. Blue Sky

6. Bright Light 

★★★★

So I finally gave up and starting watching Top Band 2. There were a lot of bands that I was familiar with, but a lot of bands I didn't know as well. Black Bag was a band that I have never heard of before, but their performance of White One definitely caught my attention. It was heavily edited out and was probably a minute long, but I had a feeling that this might be good (I just get those feels, you know? It's like a sixth sense). It's been ages since I tried out new bands, and I was craving something new, so this was a perfect place to start.

After the first listen of Black Bag's EP Beyond the Sky, I was hooked. I really like this album. There's something really refreshing about their sound. It's nothing new, it's your run-of-the-hill alternative rock but I really liked their emphasis on guitar riffs, and how they experimented with their sounds a lot.

First track of the album, White One is an amazing song; it's the song that got me to check them out, and it's probably their catchiest track. Love the vocals in this one, how it's layered and how he almost seems to shout the words. 

Free, the second track that is also sung completely in English, is a notable song. It's highly experimental, and there's a side that's reminiscent of some of the classic rock songs, but it doesn't sound outdated or old. The instrumental part of the song is  fascinating to say the least; it's heavily layered with different guitar tracks, and although at times they seem to be doing their own thing, at other times they come together and sound really nice. 

Beyond the Sky is a beautifully extensive song that starts off quite slow, but progressively come together quite well. Again, I loved the guitars in this track. The vocals really stand out in this track. It's gorgeous, in a comforting, almost soothing way. Beyond the Sky is long though, not just in length but also in its development - it seems to build up and up and up, and there are multiple moments where it explodes into beautiful sounds and it's quite lovely, but also a bit tiring (in a nice way, though). 

Beautiful Morning is more upbeat, and probably the least experimental track on the EP. It's a typical rock song. It sounds like a fun song to hear live and rock to, though.

Blue Sky is the track that made me realize that I really, really like the vocal Jang Min Woo's voice. His voice has variety, which I find very refreshing. One thing I realized with the album - and and few live performances I have watched - is that he really knows his voice well, and knows how to work it. 

Bright Light is a pretty song. The guitar at the beginning is pretty (have I talked about Black Bag's guitar enough already or?), and I really enjoyed the lyrics! Pretty lyrics. And weird thing to say perhaps, but I really like how the vocal enunciates. 

With Beyond the Sky, it's difficult to pinpoint what Black Bag actually sounds like. All the songs are quite different from each other - experimental in their own little ways. Perhaps a bit too much variety for some? I like it though, it's nice to see a band that's willing to try out different things, and the songs are all fairly good separately. I would be fine if Black Bag decided to stick with one sound for their next release, or perhaps for their performances in the future on Top Band 2 (really hoping that they last long!), because I see potential in all the different shades of their music. 

edit: wow so I'm listening to the album again and I think a word I would use to describe this EP would be unexpected. Listening to White One, I had no idea that the song was going to develop melodies like that. Other songs are similar too.... What the!