In 1976 a young southern California guitarist named Greg Ginn organized what would become one of the most influential punk bands of all time, Black Flag.
The band forever changed the life of underground music throughout the ’80s and influenced many of today’s bands in all genres of rock music. Now it’s only fitting that the bands who were inspired by the legendary band should come together to pay tribute to one of their biggest inspirations.
Black on Black: A Tribute to Black Flag is a blend of some of today’s best underground bands performing the greatest Black Flag songs. Some of the most notable bands are Bleeding Through, Zao and The Dillinger Escape Plan.
Every song is pure carnage and mayhem, perfectly presenting the intensity that represents Black Flag. Though every band on the album pays a great chaotic tribute to its mentors, there are a few bands that stand out from the rest.
After surviving the devastating brutality of the album’s first half, when The Black Dahlia Murder and Zao rip your ear drums out, don’t expect things to get any easier. The second half of the album is more horrid than you can imagine, beginning with Converge.
Converge is a band known for its fierce intensity and the group lays it all down on its cover of Black Flag’s “Annihilate This Week”. The track relentlessly beats your brains out with its vicious instrumentals and vigorous vocals.
Not surprisingly, the most impressive Black Flag cover is performed by the mathcore professors themselves, The Dillinger Escape Plan. The group took its infamous aggressive sound and created an atrocious tribute to Black Flag with its cover of “Damaged”. This is clearly the best track on the entire album, as the insane instrumentals and vile sound of Greg Puciato’s vocals will have you tearing the walls down.
Black Flag’s musical influence has spanned over 30 years and will continue for many more to come. The underground music world owes its success to these pioneers and Black on Black: A Tribute to Black Flag is the least they can do.
Dan Cappello can be reached at daniel.cappello@temple.edu
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