Bio
Pitch Black burst onto the San Francisco Bay Area music scene in late 1999 but they are no strangers to the scene. Members have been in Screw 32, the Nerve Agents, Big Rig and Cat 5.
Kevin Cross, guitarist, singer, and visual artist of Pitch Black has been an active member of the Bay Area punk scene for years, playing in such outfits as Big Rig (which featured Jesse Michaels from Operation Ivy on vocals) and served as one of the founding members of Revelation Records alumni, The Nerve Agents. After leaving The Nerve Agents, Kevin was convinced he would never be in a serious band again. Impossible to keep a good man down, Kevin got together with his good friends Jamie Morrison (ex Screw 32) and Martin Munroe (ex Stressboy), and the trio blasted out their form of fast, aggressive punk with a horror edge. A recent addition finds their roadie Danny Homer stepping up and adding keyboards to a few songs.
Pitch Black's infectious sounds soon started spreading around the Bay Area and they were playing anywhere and everywhere. The stage show has been winning over crowds everywhere with the pyrotechnics, fire, explosions and more that would even put KISS to shame. The boys have even become the local favorites at Gilman Street and sell the place out every time they play. Pitch Black's first recording was never meant to be more than a demo but turned out so well that it ended up becoming a split LP with The Enemies on Lookout!
Lineup
S/T
Martin Munroe - Bass, Vocals / Kevin Cross - Guitar, Vocals / Jamie Morrison - Drums / Daniel Homer - Keyboards, Theremin
This Is The Modern Sound
Kevin Cross - Guitar, Vocals / Jeremy Goody - Keyboards / Jamie Morrison - Drums / Martin Munroe - Bass, Vocals, Guitar
Interviews and Reviews
PITCH BLACK - S/T
Pitch Black is a brand-new four-piece hailing from the BayArea punk scene. The members aren't that brand-new - Guitarist and singer Kevin Cross was one of the founding members of the Nerve Agents, bassist Martin Munroe was part of a band called "Stressboy".
To be perfectly honest with you, once I read those guys had a keyboarder I expected the worst. But the first time I put this in my stereo the powerful music of those guys beat the living shit out of me... including my unfounded prejudices! Pitch Black is punk rock with a decent goth-factor and audible hardcore roots. The first comparison that came to my mind was "Wow, this must be the punk-version of the Nerve Agents!" Or in case you live in a dark cave and you have never heard the Nerve Agents think of a dirtier and more powerful version of The Damned. Fortunately the keyboards are not too dominant.
The atmosphere is underlined by various sinister samples in between the songs... but in the first place, this band is about kicking ass, and that's what they do royally! The first track "The Wrath" is probably the fastest track on the disc but the following 10 tracks can definitely keep the promises the opener makes... "Spotlight" is probably my favourite track, but it's really hard to tell! Did I mention Paul Miner from Death By Stereo is responsible for the powerful production and the upright bass on one track?
The booklet looks pretty gothic as well and it just fits the music. Definitely a surprisingly good record! I expected a weird goth-punk mix - but instead this is a powerful punk-core mix and it seems like the band is not taking this whole "goth" thing too seriously. In my eyes a must for punk and open-minded hardcore addicts!
I guess I just leave you with a quote from the lyrics that I've been turning over in my mind for quite some time already:
It's all the little things
that stick like little pins
grab and take like little hands
little mouths whispering big demands
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