8. March 2025
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Media Review

The Blackwhitecolorful – Brace for Impact

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

The Blackwhitecolorful - Brace For Impact

The Blackwhitecolorful - Brace For Impact
4

Rating

 4.0/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Nice wide range of songs
  • Good vocal work
  • Nice guest collaborations

Flyctory.com Cons

  • Range of songs might be too wide

The Blackwhitecolorful is a band from my home town Cologne. After a 2020 album release, Brace for Impact is their sophomore album. The band describes their own sound as epic alternative rock. Let’s see what that means in practice. Release date has been 8th September 2023.

 

The Blackwhitecolorful – About The Artists

The Blackwhitecolorful have been founded in Cologne, Germany, in 2013. It took them seven years to release their first album Live To Tell The Tale. Another key success for the band has been that one year later, in 2021, they had four songs in a national TV movie. The lead singer and guitarist Sascha Joseph even had a minor role in that one. The other band members are Michael Kolsdorf (guitar), Jonas Kamp (bass), Tim Klute (synth) and Alex Zylka (drums)

 

The Blackwhitecolorful – Brace For Impact – Track by Track

The twelve song album lasts 44 minutes.

1. Echoes

The album opens with its only single feature so far, Echoes. The song is a great modern alternative rock track, which more and more develops over time. Synth parts and guitar riffs are driving the track in a nice balance. The opener is finally fading out nicely.

2. Still Breathing

The second track Still Breathing is coming in a similar style. There are rather quiet moments, which are broken by almost stereotypical alternative rock melodies. This might read more negative than it is actually meant to be. Still Breathing feels familiar in wider parts of its sound. Good second track.

3. Beyond Mountains

The third track illustrates a very different part of the music by The Blackwhitecolorful. Sascha Joseph is concentrating on the guitar, there are no vocals in here. The sound is impressive and the song is telling its story without using words. Works out as well.

4. In Motion

In Motion opens slow and rather atmospheric. The focus is on Tim Klute on the synthesizers, before step by step Sascha Joseph on the microphone and the other instruments are joining. This leads to a very dramatic, narrative style, which finally is a huge reason, why you can digest the songs by the Germans so easy. Nice sound.

5. Apex

Apex surprises with a more massive and aggressive sound. There are shouting and grunting vocals, before the song comes back to the typical synth and guitar driven sound. The band is relying on some collaborations. In this case, it is working out really nice.

6. Dark

Apex has been a rather dark sound already – so how will Dark will be? The song dares to take breaks of several seconds. The song is practically a cappella. Again, The Blackwhitecolorful surprise with a  very different type of song.

7. OV-102

OV-102 is the official internal name for the Space Shuttle Columbia, which burst in 2003 with all astronauts onboard dying. The song opens with a radio message, which finally is the only lyrical part in the whole song until its very end. One of the most catching tracks of the whole album.

8. No Route to Host

The very first shouts and grunts already tell you: No Route to Host will be a harder one. The darker metal elements with the very melodic main vocals and the synth sounds lead to a very interesting sound. As well as the whole album, the song does not become boring. There is constant potential for change. Something is happening. No time to rest – you simply and enjoy with some fascination.

9. On Standby

On Standby is a good listen, but it is rather a song to relax while listening. The song is rather similar to the opener, for example. A good, straight sound. The melodic chorus stays in your mind.

10. Mourn the Hopeful (Reprise)

These almost ninety seconds rather work as an interlude than a reprise in this twelve song set. Again, the instrumental compositions by the Rheinland Region band come with a lot of atmosphere.

11. Broken Vessel

The dramatic drumming and the intense, strongly reverbing synth sound is strongly creating the space theme and atmosphere of other songs. The song finally sound comparably pop-ish. A nice follow-up on the OV-102 theme.

12. Reset to Zero

In their final song of Brace For Impact, the German band takes you to the overtime and presents the longest song of the album. The song again works with the space atmosphere and majorly works with synth sounds and the impressing vocal qualities of Sascha Joseph. However, the rocking parts, which give some free space for the guitars and the bass as well, are just the right spice to this dish.

 

The Blackwhitecolorful – Brace For Impact – Spotify

Here is Brace For Impact on Spotify:

 

The Blackwhitecolorful – Brace For Impact – My View

Finally, it is the wide range of songs which turn Brace For Impact into a good listen. The instrumental sections blow you away with atmosphere. Regardless, whether you are a metalhead at heart or a favor for some mainstream music, The Blackwhitecolorful have some tunes in here for you. This unfortunately also here and there increases the risk that some bites on this twelve track menu are not according to your preferences. Give this album a try, it is worth it.

Favorite Track: OV-102

 

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