Black Water was initially formed as a duo by Romanian musicians Silviu Pop (We Are Numbers / Ordinul Negru) and Sikorsky (The Thirteenth Sun / Round Sound). They managed to record 3 electro-acoustic tracks: BLACK LIGHT, BURNING FIRE and DELIAH IS NO MORE. The musical genre started to evolve after guitarist Teo from The Dignity Complex decided to join the band. The sound started to be more Post Rock and the new compositions more atmospheric.
Band line-up:
Silviu Pop – vocals
Teo Ardeleanu – guitars
Sikorsky – keyboards, guitars, electronics
The band Black Water decided to have their first live performances in Taverna Kronstadt in Brasov. Due to a very limited public access at the venue, the band decided to divide the concert; playing on Friday the 12th of May and Saturday 13th of May. Both events where practically sold out in a couple of hours due to the local curiosity towards this project.
I have to admit that personally I was very anxious to see this band playing live due to the fact that all musicians come from various musical styles like Progressive Metal/Rock, Metalcore, Djent, Deathcore and Black Metal. I had a great surprise and enjoyed the concert a lot so I decided to go also on the second day. The surprise was even greater to see that practically the band managed to put on stage, two days in a row a great live performance.
Both events where accompanied by very suggestive projections form 1966 American cult movie “Chappaqua”; portraying the Beat culture starting famous writers such as William S. Burroughs or Allen Ginsberg. I have to admit that the band is using very often interesting and inspiring movie footage for their tracks. I can only recommend you to check this out to understand the precise feeling of this project.
The band played the following set list: BLACK LIGHT, OCEANS OF SCARS, BURNING FIRE, DELIAH IS NO MORE, WHITE POWDERS and SORROW. In my opinion the highlights of the concert where DELIAH IS NO MORE and SORROW. DELIAH IS NO MORE is a very interesting song about human feelings and experiences who has a very fine and elegant vocal falsetto, bringing now and then the influence of musical genius Mike Patton from Faith No More. The other surprise was the track SORROW that brings a Pink Floyd-ish vibe by using many guitar riffs in combination with increasing clear and warm but at the same time very melancholic vocals.
Overall the combination of Teo’s Post Rock guitar riffing with Sikorsky’s electronics, everything bound by Silviu’s clean vocals marks this project as a strong coagulated group ready for playing live from now on.
One think is clear in my mind, that the local underground started to give birth to various forms of music and musicians started to be more and more resourceful and creative.
The band is planning to release an EP soon, so stay tuned and follow this interesting project.
Photo credit: Radu Barsan
