I’m an arts writer, researcher and critic based in Australia, open to commissions and collaborations.
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BLACK METAL 2
Dean Blunt
Written by Olivia J. Bennett
Edited by Isabella Trimboli
Published in print by The Big Issue AU
Issue #640 | 09 July 2021
Seven years after the success of Black Metal, Dean Blunt's follow-up Black Metal 2 offers further insight into the enigmatic London-based artist's mutable, scattered sound. His songs plunge into discomfort and modern malaise, with stark lyrics on grief, addiction, love and selfhood. Despite singing exclusively in a despondent monotone, Blunt manages to capture a wide spectrum of emotions on Black Metal 2. Moments of frankness and dark theatricalism - like 'MUGU’ and 'LA RAZA' - recall the horror-indebted songs of Memphis hip-hop group Three 6 Mafia. On 'SKETAMINE', Blunt evokes the beach scene in Albert Camus' existentialist masterpiece The Stranger, with a staggered narrative ("Girl, come see what's up/With a gun on the beach/If you see what I mean") accompanied by hazy harmonica, strings and guitars. By resisting categorisation, the album, through both lyric and sound, becomes an exercise in accepting the infinite meaning and, therefore, meaninglessness of all things.