Mauro and the Grooms - Black Europa

is the first album with The Grooms. Pawlowski has gone from one extreme to another, this is a welcomed return back to form. Once again, the genius that is Pawlowski has created something very unique.

A brave move is made in making the title track an instrumental, something that Pawlowski never shied away from in his Evil Superstars albums, but also to have it as the first track. There is no easy way to put this other than to say that this album is not an easy album to like. With it’s heavy riff influence and tendency to scream in parts alongside the industrial, tinny feel to the production, makes it something not for the tame hearted.

Nothing is like most of sexually frustrated pop Belgian underground scene bar the overtly sexed up ‘Fear Life’. There almost is even an cute song hidden within ‘All Over Me’. Although, after over compensating with the loud guitars it seems that Pawlowski has not paid as much attention to his lyrics as he has done in the past. Having said that, tracks like ‘Terrorist Flower’ and ‘Tired Of Being Young’ have great single potential given the chance even if Pawlowski’s vocals are not too dissimilar to Chris Cornell’s.

It is hard not to believe that Pawlowski lives in a never-ending stream of artistic consciousness. Marvellous. Keep it up.