Pitch Black Pitch Black (same) Revelation Records publicity@revhq.com Hailing from the San Francisco "Bay Area", Pitch Black is a quartet that includes a keyboard player in addition to a standard punk lineup. No edge is sacrificed for the additoinof eerie synth harmony, as the harder tracks may evoke images of leather and spike-clad youth running and clashing mindlessly like exploding human-jellyfish. Kevin Cross's coarse vocals have the brattiness of Johnny Rotten on steroids and crack, with a shotgun. The lead vocals may bring to mind the more hardcore side of NoFx. Pitch Black's dark, energetic punk is complemented by in-your-face lyrics that are more like sh!t-talking witha death fixation than contemplative and meaningful. It's all in good fun, though, as the whole album is a blackened rock-n-roll cartoon, matching the cover art. The younger crowd is obviously targeted, though the hardcore aspect may appeal to listeners who usually choose more mature music. We are introduced to Pitch Black with "The Wrath", a screamer with pounding double bass and changing rhythmns. The varying intensity of the riffage highlights the potential of the band, with themes that are expanded throughout the album. "Destructive Criticism" and "Half Empty" follow strongly, leaving us at the fourth track, entitled "The Bride". This one is structured much like Samhain's "Let The Day Begin", but has more popular appeal. "Resting Place" is a high point, consisting of chiming guitars and a ballad-upbeat-ballad format. "Rock And Roll Girl" is two minutes of careless graveyard swingin' spirit. A handful of harder punk tracks round out the album, packed with plenty of owls, bats, and bells. Pitch Black is a leaf on a branch of dark punk that has The Misfits to thank as its predecessors. Forming in the Bay Area in October 1999, this band builds to a sub-genre of punk that existed in different forms before the most recent wave, and the further building of subculture around it is justified. The question concerning Pitch Black is whether their trendiness will prove an advantage or disadvantage. Quite vivacious for their death theme, Pitch Black's ability to delve into more thought-provoking lyrics may be seriously limited. It would seem, however, that they have no desire to pursue such a path. While any meaning can be threaded into a scream, this particular band seems content to be a fun and semi-poppy hardcore punk band with references to its darkened musical environment. One may expect a cover of "The Monster Mash" down the road. It will be interesting to see where Pitch Black is in five years, as the punk-goth fad will likely have passed at the more mainstream levels (but never completely). If they keep it demented and fast, they could continue to work themselves into the niche that they have been carving with their sellout live shows. However, there is also potential for the expansion of the lighter guitar and keyboard combination melodies, as well as a general "rock" attitude that occasionally threatens to take over. The novelty of their image may or may not keep them afloat, but their ability to weave synth melodies through the unrelenting barrge of punk rockets may save them a comfortable seat in the future.