Music Seen: Music Supervisor Hot Picks * Black Water Rising's "No Halos"
Artist: Black Water Rising
Black Water Rising
Song: “No Halos”
Why I Luv It: American hard rock n roll is living and breathing in Brooklyn, NY, and Black Water Rising is large, heavy, melodic, and in charge! I absolutely love this band, and the song “No Halos” embodies all that is missing in the American Hard Rock scene: overdriven distorted guitar “riffage,” deep dark bluesy bass performances, bellowing drum grooves, and powerfully soulful rock vocals.
The guitar riffs are anything but generic. We’re talking about a fresh creative burst in every lick you hear from guitarist Johnny Tattoruso.
Bass player Oddie McLaughlin plays with the feel and soul of a life-long blues purist who has the chops to pull off smoothest of smoothe walking bass lines while anchoring Johnny’s rip-roaring monstrous “riffage.” Drummer Mike Meselsohn plays with a fierce mean streak and the best word to describe his sound is STOMP!! Oh and by the way, lead vocalist/guitarist Rob Traynor is a true blue American rock n roll singer with all the vocal chops of a trained professional and the honest grit to match the balls-out sound his band produces.
Scene I Can See it In: Lyrically, “No Halos” is a damn near perfect revenge song for a male lead character who is 100% at peace with the fact that even though his revenge ploy may be littered with cruel intentions, his motivating internal force is righteously based, and fueled by the realistic fact that no one, absolutely no one, is free from committing sins. Our male lead is ready to punish those who have done him seriously wrong. No one is sin-free, and no halo is exempt from hidden imperfections, not even those who preach “the word” of God.
I can picture a tough, gritty, and well-built male character driving a beautifully restored 1972 Black Plymouth Cuda down a dusty desert road on his way to inflict punishment on another man who has done his family or friends wrong. This song is a spiritually cleansing / cathartic force for our main character — who is confidently coming to terms with the brutal sins he is about to commit in retaliation for the wrongdoings he has experienced. — Dave Hnatiuk
Dave Hnatiuk is a Music Supervisor/Senior Sound Designer for MTV On-Air Promotions, NYC. Visit him at Music Supervision Central or The Song Hunters.