Eid bonanza
Black: Utshober Por
Second venture from 'The Men in Black'
Faizul A Tanim
It was a pre-Eid congregation of music admirers at the official launching of Black's second album 'Utshober Por' on November 21 from the record label G-series. Etcetra Music organized the ceremony at the Etcetra bookshop in Gulshan-1. The Press conference on this occasion comprised a brief album introduction from the band members and question/answer session. Khaled of G-Series made a brilliant attempt answering to the most common query from the journalists and guests - why is the term 'alternative rock' applied to signify the band's genre? He replied, 'There are different categories of Nazrul and Tagore songs rooting out from the broad heading classical music. Similarly, alternative music is a sub-category coming out from the main title Rock'.The 16-song compilation vividly mixed and recorded by Durey, the sound engineer, was a much-awaited musical treat. Assorted with the varied and entertaining drumming by Tony, brilliant use of dual vocals-Jon and Tahsan and occasional female harmony by Elita with dynamic keyboard tunes of Tahsan, groovy bass lines by Miraz and catchy guitar riffs of Jahan-the alluring recipe got instant reception from the crowd. Tracks one to six are solid alternative rock songs with great composition and distinctive flavours. Track number one '?' being a blast, makes an exceptional introduction. The second song 'O' has very good use of guitar processor effects. Next, number three 'Porahoto' has delightful dual vocals with amusing female harmonizing on the chorus, making a great impression. Then fourth song 'Ichha' is a lively track with a lot of melody and positive lyric. Sweet melody rock, number five 'Onukhhon' makes a sudden end, leaving its potential on listeners' grace. Although the sixth 'Utshober Por' seems full of life from the song title and striking tunes, the lyrical expression makes a vague impression of the title. The seventh song 'Opomito' perhaps is the ordinary poppish track making it the most commercial song. Getting to the midst, eighth number 'Akoi Rokom' has vibrant drumming, unique guitars and keyboards. A bit more length could surely justify the song. 'Ei Chaya Pothey', the ninth track builds up a gloomy rock feel with multitude of emotions. Subsequently, number ten 'Rudhho Bodh' has a promising intro with a twist of Stone Temple Pilots influence. Nonetheless, the guitar riff and bass works are remarkable. 'Shlok' is the number eleventh track. A melody rock song, weakly opening with a duet but takes an amazing turn with guitar strums and lively drumbeats as the pace of the song spurts up. That sudden changing part could have made a much better intro. The flute work however is outstanding, rhythm is admirable and the song as well has a good 'fluty' finish. Delightfully, the twelfth track '6th September' has very catchy guitar riffs but just when the song was taking a fine twist, it ends abruptly. Unique drumming commences the thirteenth song 'Micha Michi'-it is a good song having U2 flavoured guitar riffs but a hazy ending. An electronic pop style number fourteen, 'Prakritik' has a fair English rap part, which could have blended better with a more fast-paced tune. The rap did not fuse thoroughly with the song. The fifteenth song 'Eka' is a satisfactory poppish song. It has some sweet piano tunes and good female harmony. The last number 'Bimurto' however leaves the album with a not good enough close, cutting down the higher expectations. The number of songs could be cut short to make detailed longer tracks with more obvious endings. Overall drumming was phenomenal with lot of excitement and energy, making it rather an eventful album. Moreover, not using fake DJ sound in this compilation was more of a polished accomplishment.
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