Post Mortem

Personnel: Gabriel Garcia (vocals, guitar); Austin Diaz (guitar); Steven Spence (drums).
Audio Mixer: Josh Wilbur.
Recording information: Circle House Studios, FL; Henson Studios, Hollywood, CA; Spin Studios, New York, NY; The Dungeon.
Photographer: Justin Borucki.
Just after Miami-based metal quartet Black Tide released their debut in 2008, guitarist Alex Nuñez departed, to be replaced by Austin Diaz. Along with the lineup shift, the band moved in a more distilled, commercial direction for its sophomore album. Produced by Josh Wilbur and GGGarth, 2011's Post-Mortem doesn't have the ties to hair metal or the New Wave of British Heavy Metal that Light from Above did. Instead, it finds the group lumped in with contemporary groups like Avenged Sevenfold, Between the Buried and Me, and Bullet for My Valentine. But even if it is not as original or wildly thrashin' as the first album, Post-Mortem is still a decent follow-up, especially considering that Black Tide are still only in their teens. ~ Jason Lymangrover