The Black Swans' Who Will Walk in the Darkness with You? is a heartbreaking and beautiful debut from this promising new band. They are a band hard to classify, although I can see them being lumped into any form of generic "country" genre, sitting awkwardly alongside artists whom they share nothing in common with. The Black Swans certainly have many traditional country elements to their sound, and they are signed to Delmore Recording Society, a Nashville-based label, but despite their twang, the Black Swans don't sound like a country band. Well, a country band summoned from the depths of Hades, perhaps. These guys sound downright nightmarish. Not nightmarish, of course, in the Halloween sense. The Black Swans are just depressing motherfuckers, and DeCicca sounds like a ghost haunting his former lovers as he croons his dark lyrics with his funereal baritone.

The band themselves sound strangely otherworldly. DeCicca's acoustic guitar is tender and melodic and Noel Sayre's violin, equally influenced by traditional bluegrass as by classical (he is second chair violin in the Huntington Symphony Orchestra in West Virginia), adds a gorgeous intimacy to the tracks. I have always been a personal fan of the tonal and emotional capacity of the violin and it adds a truly beautiful color and dimension to the arrangements. The rhythm section of Jovan Karcic (drums) and Matt Surgeson (bass) is tight, although relatively uninteresting contrasted with the intimate guitar and rich violin lines. They certainly sound very professional as a band, but one almost wishes for something a little sloppier and dirtier to sit alongside DeCicca's honest and raw vocals. The production, despite the fact that I think it could stand to be a little dirtier, is still quite nice and the instruments all sound fantastic. So props to the producer for that one, but let's not be afraid to get down and dirty next time, okay? There are some absolutely great sounds though, and many of the songs sound as if they were recorded in a large hall, just drenched in demonic reverb (apparently a few tracks were recorded in a church). One can imagine these thundering drums causing minor avalanches down in the depths of Hell. (I still swear these guys aren't fucking human!)

Now, I mentioned that the Black Swans are depressing as fuck, right? These guys just may be Nashville's answer to Elliott Smith. I mean, these songs are just bitterly depressing. Be prepared for all your hope for a brighter future to be squashed. DeCicca's lyrics can be downright bitter at times and there is certainly a little anger amidst the suffering.

Exhibit A:
"It's been so long since I've seen honest eyes, and yours, my dear, are just more lies for me to believe..." - "Honest Eyes"