While it’s always a treat to see a name come out of nothingness and immediately prove itself as a name that can throw down excellence right out of the gate, such instances are oftentimes few and far between. It tends to be the case that a band gets its feet wet through EPs and singles in order to properly gauge what direction the band wants to take its sound with a full-length album typically being the moment that a band really shows listeners what it seeks to bring to the table in no small form. Without a shred of compromise nor a moment of hesitation, that seems to be precisely the case for Blackstaff’s first full-length album.

It is one thing to grab your listener by the throat. That’s something which a vast swathe of the underground has proven to be more than capable of bringing to the table to ensure an intense release in some form or another, but it is something else entirely to bring forth a performance that takes such intensity and actually does something with it. Less can sometimes mean more in the right hands, but that doesn’t stop plenty from trying to achieve glory like what Blackstaff has within the seven tracks of “The Storyteller” that take sludge-ridden doom prowess and pairs it with compelling storytelling that further enhances the madness brought about by the riffs that Blackstaff is ever so adept at throwing down. While more than a mere collection of riffs that know how to manipulate sonic thickness to their advantage, it’s throughout the whole of “The Storyteller” that we see them executed in tandem alongside an impeccable sense of pacing that’s constantly shifting with the concepts that Blackstaff bring into our dimension as they defy the laws of our realm and transport us to a place that’s as fascinating to behold as it is laced with terror. The album as a whole is relatively simplistic in its approach, but its execution is simply invigorating to lose yourself within.

Intoxicating for what it dares to bring to the table and downright seductive as it continuously draws you in for more of its fantastically crafted tales, Blackstaff made one confident step forward after another to make damn sure that “The Storyteller” would not be a tale that you should skip. A record with real meat on its bones and with more than enough to promise future greatness, it’s here that Blackstaff lays the foundation for a conquest across space and time that will surely be something to behold when it finally makes impact.

LISTEN to “The Storyteller” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Blackstaff on Facebook here.