Black Stone Cherry – Screamin’ At The Sky
Release Date: 29th September 2023
Label: Mascot Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Southern Rock, Hard Rock.
FFO: Alter Bridge, Halestorm, Shinedown.
Review By: Paul Franklin
Last time out Kentucky stalwarts Black Stone Cherry took some time to explore The Human Condition, now, on their latest release they have decided that a more primal approach is needed and have thrown back their heads and roared, Screamin’ at the Sky indeed.
Written on tour and recorded at the vintage confines of the Plaza Theatre in Glasgow, Kentucky, there is no way that this album could ever be mistaken for the work of any other band. With their last six albums entering the UK Rock Chart at number 1, it would be madness to think that Black Stone Cherry would ditch their signature sound. Hence, Screamin’ at the Sky positively bulges with thunderous down-tuned Hard-Rock riffs, catchy melodic hooks and Chris Robertson’s powerful soulful vocals.
The title track starts the grungy southern rock juggernaut rolling and, despite a few places where the momentum eases up a little (the opening of Raindrops On A Rose and the balled Here’s To The Hopeless) nothing is going to stop it until the final chords of the equally monstrous You Can Have It All.
On The Human Condition Chris Robertson was refreshingly candid about his struggles with mental health and that openness and sense of catharsis continues on this latest album. When The Pain Comes lays bare some of the recent personal trials and tragedies that have beset the band members, whilst the aforementioned closing track offers the reassurance that there is indeed a light at the end of the tunnel.
Black Stone Cherry – reassuringly dependable.
(3.5 / 5)
