Mann's World

A short review of the new Black Taj CD.

Black Taj
Self-titled (Amish Records)

Yes, it's true that Black Taj guitarist/singer Dave Brylawski and bass player Steve Popson used to be in Polvo. But if you pick up this CD expecting to hear something similar to that band's distorted guitars and Eastern-inspired melodies, you're likely to be disappointed. Certainly there are similarities, especially on the songs "Back to the Bridges" and "Octastone," but if this cd sounds like anything, it's a lot of old classic rock especially Led Zeppelin, The Allman Brothers, Black Sabbath and ZZ Top.

A good part of that has to do with the band's second guitarist, Grant Tennille, who seems to like to riff a lot more than Brylawski, yet fits perfectly with Brylawski's more exotic style.

But that's not to say Black Taj is simply a classic rock band. They're more deep cuts classic, like something that might have gotten played on an FM station in the early '70s when no one cared how long the songs were because there were no commercials to play. A perfect example is "Beyonder," which starts off slow with reverbed guitars and vocals, then builds up to a chugging, multi-layered guitar groove, cut with some serious John Bonham-like snare-drum fills.