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The Black Queen Return with Infinite Games

     When The Black Queen (Greg Puciato/The Dillinger Escape Plan, Josh Eustis/Telefon Tel Aviv, and Steven Young/Nine Inch Nails tech) emerged onto the scene in 2015 with their first single, the moody, dreamscape-esque "The End Where We Start", they were instantly on everyone's radar. The debut album that followed, Fever Daydream, propelled the Los Angeles-based synth-wave band to higher ground. They instantly sold out tickets to all their shows, released more than a handful of videos, and despite serious setbacks (discussed soon), they survived the first album "supergroup" curse and went on to triumphantly release their sophomore album, Infinite Games, last week to great acclaim. Their success, unsurprisingly, has grown even more. Tickets to their upcoming Australian tour with fellow gloom wavers Drab Majesty have all been snagged up by fervent fans and all recent stateside shows turned up the same results.

     Blindsided by professional and personal upheaval since Fever Daydream's release- equipment theft, a serious bus crash involving Puciato's now-disbanded schizophrenic prog-metal band The Dillinger Escape Plan, the death of Chris Cornell when that same band toured alongside Soundgarden, personal demons and angst all three members lived through, Infinite Games is a skillful album that lyrically and musically encapsulates these experiences. Naked and intense, it is a dark, emotionally raw undertaking. It picks up where Fever Daydream left off, with somber industrial stylings worth a listen. It is bleaker than Fever Daydream, with tracks "Lies About You" and lead single "Thrown Into the Dark" taking residence in the shadows despite catchy choruses. Puciato's clean and clear singing voice is as sensual as they come, as his signature frenetic vocals in The DEP take a back seat. In The Black Queen, they are brittled, tortured, and pretty much set the scene for the whole album on opening track "Even Still I Want To", which swirls in ambience and disorientation in an almost whispered fragility and sadness. While Puciato may have shed his former tough guy, his seductive crooning is compelling and at times sinister. It is beautifully complimented by crisp detail, layering, arrangement, and overall production. What Eustis and Young musically contributed is highly artistic and experimental. It is a genuine labor of love, an expansive journey into a dystopian sphere of throbbing beats, eerie atmospheres, and subduing minimalism. Its only flaw is having lenghty outros to some songs, but they are easily  overlooked when considering the whole. At just a tad over 45 minutes in length, Infinite Games is a refusal to draw back in the face of adversity and a statement of purpose. It is fearless and extensively lush. While not always an easy listen, its strength will appeal to fans of  80's inspired darkwave and atmospheric synth-pop. Don't sleep on them. 

photo: Culture Addicts



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