Black Sheep Wall
From Moorpark, California, a small town nestled a few miles north of LA, Black Sheep Wall formed in the mid-'00s when the members were still in high school. "The band itself was bred from the sheer boredom of growing up in a place like Moorpark," says founder Brandon Gillichbauer, who began as the bassist and now fronts the band.
Through its first decade of existence, Black Sheep Wall made its name by way of glacial-paced nihilism and groove – a dark and hypnotic style of sludge-smeared hardcore – releasing music via Season of Mist and playing with the likes of Converge, High on Fire, and A Life Once Lost.
Turbulence between band members led to lineup changes and eventually a long hiatus. Five years after the 2015 release of I'm Going to Kill Myself, Black Sheep Wall returns now, reformed and rejuvenated, with the most compelling work of its career: Songs for the Enamel Queen.
Almost 60 minutes of music, Songs for the Enamel Queen sustains white-knuckle intensity, from start to finish, and defies categorization through the entire ride. As if to announce the band's return with a bang, the album opens with the 2-minute slalom-to hell, "Human Shaped Hole," then follows up with a 13-minute epic, "New Measures of Failure." Four of the album's seven songs clock in above the 10-minute mark, yet every second drives forward with purpose.
