Black Peaks’ excellent follow up to their exquisite 2016 debut ‘Statues’ had high expectations from its announcement with lead single “Can’t Sleep”, which serves as the album opener. This track demonstrates the evolution of the band’s sound and sets the tone for the rest of the record, with all their individual parts melding together as a whole led by Will Gardner’s powerful vocals (and excellent moustache). “Electric Fires” is a personal favourite from the record, and it will surely be a staple in live sets for years to come due to the fast tempo and the energy it generates from the very beginning. The drumming throughout the record is complex and complimented extremely well by the introduction of Dave Larkin’s new style of bass, whilst the guitar stands out throughout with heavy riffs, especially on “Eternal Light”, with its unique intro and marks one of the band’s finest songs to date.
Whilst there are areas reminiscent of ‘Statues’, such as on the opening of “Aether”, the new influences and experience gained by the band with their widespread touring experience with bands such as Mastodon, Architects and The Dillinger Escape Plan as well as their many festival sets can be glimpsed throughout this album, which is far more complex than its predecessor and experiments with differing sounds. This is especially remarkable especially with Gardner’s vocals, who’s impressive range is exemplified throughout and certainly draws comparisons with Greg Puciato of The Dillinger Escape Plan, with his effortless transitions between different pitches of clean singing and his impressive screams, which are sure to provide energy to any mosh pit in a live setting, which is where they especially excel.
There is no filler at all on ‘All That Divides’, which, like ‘Statues’ was in 2016, is one of the finest albums of the year and despite fierce competition from their contemporaries, this album is certain to be in many ‘album of the year’ lists come December, and provides a glimpse of an exciting future for Black Peaks, with bigger venues to come and higher billing on festivals, especially after their standout performance headlining the Cave Stage at 2000 Trees this year. It is obvious that the sky is the limit for this band who provide an electrifying vision of the future of British rock.
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