BLACK HILL COVE | Broken – album review

Black Hill Cove ‘Broken’ heralds new name on the block

“Broken” is the rather splendid debut from Black Hill Cove who formed during the 2020 Covid lockdown. Based in Lisbon, Portugal this three-piece have produced a rather splendid slab of what I’d prefer to call groove metal. Because that’s what it does. It grooves along at a cracking pace in the vein of Devildriver or Machine Head, with occasional clean vocals to add a little levity from the main assault.

Broken gives you dear listener, 12 tracks over 43 minutes. 2 of these are an instrumental intro and outro, creating a very hefty sandwich filling of finely crafted and executed metal. For a 3 piece, they sound like a much bigger band, due to a really nice clean modern production.

A very fine debut

The 3 members of Black Hill Cove are also in other bands (Grankapo, Painstruck, and We Are The Damned), but with Broken, have delivered a stunning debut album that certainly has the potential to eclipse the aforementioned. Big on melody, riffs, and the previously mentioned groove, Broken is an uplifting listen. The cinematic intro “Lutar Atè Ao Fim” (Fight to the End) sets things up nicely for the ensuing gallop of the next 10 tracks.

It’s hard to single out any one track here, as all are such good robust chunks of succulent metal. But I’d like to give a nod to the 6th track “Blindness“. I really love a track that from the first instance races forwards like an F1 car, and this one certainly does just that.

And finally…

I’m not going to say that you will find anything original about this album. However Broken is an example of sticking to a known formula, and doing it very very well. These are 3 fine musicians making equally fine music, that is well worthy of your time to check out. Black Hill Cove are another fine addition to Portugal’s ever-growing roster of quality metal bands.

Track Listing

1. Lutar Até Ao Fim
2. Angels fall
3. The Wolf
4. Broken Pieces
5. Standing Alone
6. Blindness
7. The Calling
8. The Hunt
9. Kill The Beast
10. Hole In The Head
11. In The Shadows
12. O Tempo Não Volta Atrás

Links

https://www.facebook.com/Blackhillcove/

https://ragingplanet.bandcamp.com/album/black-hill-cove-broken

https://ragingplanet.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/blackhillcove/