Black Diamond – Last Man Standing (2013)

With a start in 2005, guitarists Igor Manasijevic and Nejc Vidmar set about the arduous task of finding like-minded musicians in their native Slovenia to complete their heavy metal band Black Diamond. Taking quite a few years, the quintet (filled out with bassist Urban Medic, drummer Robert Kovacic, and vocalist Zanil Tataj Zak) finally entered a studio to record this debut 10 song album, the 65 minute "Last Man Standing".

Much of Black Diamond's sound is rich with classic, traditional influences, along with a slightly longer arrangement propensity, as 6 of the 10 tracks eclipse the 6 minute mark. You'll get some of their cultural texture in the clean sections of "Hold Me Tonight"- a pure power ballad where Zanil stretches out some of the verses with dramatic pauses or in key note fluttering. Their name sake "Black Diamond" contains a few progressive textures, especially in the time signature juggling from Urban and Robert- while the guitar fluidity and riffing reminds me of classic Iron Maiden and self-titled album era Metallica. When the band go for a more compact arrangement like "The Edge of Sanity"- you get the feeling that the quintet dig for the balance between impressive guitar leads and this darker, mysterious texture to their chord choices- evoking feelings of Savatage meets Annihilator.
I do believe in the long run Black Diamond need to cut off some of the excessive instrumental sections to their songs- less is more in the traditional, classic metal world. Zanil will remind a lot of people of Bruce Dickinson in many parts, and overall this band really takes their influences and uses them as a springboard to create their own fresh sound. I'm going to be watching this act's progress over the coming years.

01. Opus 91-96 (06:51)
02. The Edge Of Sanity (05:15)
03. Power Of Mind (06:00)
04. Dreams Of Tomorrow (07:35)
05. Hold Me Tonight (04:59)
06. Black Diamond (06:50)
07. The Thing That Couldn't Die (06:26)
08. Lazne Zvezde (08:53)
09. Mastermind (05:37)
10. Tears In Eyes (05:23)

Igor Manasijevic: guitars/bass
Nejc Vidmar: guitars/bass

GUEST MUSICIANS
Zanil Tataj: vocals
Simon Jovanovic: vocals
Samo Urbancic: vocals
Sandra Tomovic: vocals
Mirko Jokic: bass
Robert Kovacic: drums
Sejla Usenik: violin

Link for download Black Diamond – Last Man Standing (2013) : turbo

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Teaser of Black Diamond's album "Last man standing".Album out on 7th of march, 2013!Follow BLACK DIAMOND on:Facebook: https://sl-si.facebook.com/pages/Black-...

Discover Last Man Standing by Black Diamond. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.

Produced by Black Diamond. Recorded from 2006 to 2012 at Home Studio, Novo Mesto; Studio Multi-records, Šentjernej; and at Studio Evolucija, Ljubljana, Slovenia. Mixed at Studio Evolucija, Ljubljana, Slovenia.

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