Chris Black is one of Chicago's busiest metal musicians, fronting
or contributing to a variety of bands that, for the most part, don't
really resemble each other.
High Spirits is truly a Chris Black solo project, as he plays all
instruments as well as sings on all of the studio albums, while roping
in friends and locals for live work.
As heard on the critically-acclaimed You Are Here, the style is a
rather intriguing brand of semi-retro hard rock-laced metal.
Terms like "catchy" and "melodic" usually aren't complimentary for a
metal band, and yet while they are quite apropos here, somehow High Spirits
simply don't invoke the negative vibes that those descriptions would
normally entail.
The songs are simplistic yet not boring, familiar and yet quite unique.
It's really quite an accomplishment (and again, quite different from the
other bands that Black is involved with, with the semi-exception
of
Aktor
who sometimes sound similar).
Nicely done.
