Prelude to Black Sunrise
Black Sunrise just released their new album, Drowning, and it’s making me appreciate where I come from.
The southern shores of Lake Michigan are a sight to behold. To the west, the incredible Chicago skyline stands out like giants reaching toward the cosmos. To the east, the historic national landmark, the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, is a true mid-coast paradise.
In between these stunning landscapes lies Northwest Indiana, aka, “The Region”, or “Da Region”, short for the Calumet Region, due to the area where the Grand Calumet River flows from Gary, IN west through Northwest Indiana into Calumet City, IL eventually making its way north into Lake Michigan. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, steel mills, factories and oil refineries began popping up on the Northwest Indiana shoreline. Not unlike Birmingham, England, post-war immigrants converged upon these shores looking for steady work. As the years progressed, generations of families continued to work at these mills, factories and refineries while churches accommodating these tens of thousands of steel mill workers, unaffectionately known as “mill rats” began popping up around the many neighborhoods that make up the area.
(photo by Barry Butler Photography)
Catholic churches benefited the most as Catholicism was the common religious practice among the Irish, Polish, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Czech, Italian, and Mexican (sorry if I left any origin country out) families that settled in The Region. As the decades passed, quite a few of the descendants married outside their cultures (yet, staying within ‘The Church’), making The Region a mixed garden of folk who weren’t “purebloods”.
By 1920, over 5,000 African Americans settled in The Region due to the availability of work. At the same time, just over the Illinois/Indiana border, African Americans were making their way to the South Side of Chicago, known as The Great Migration. By the 1950s, the Chicago Blues scene was beginning to bloom and flourish. Chess Records (known as the ‘Birthplace of the Blues) opened its doors in 1950, which launched the careers of many early electric blues pioneers, most notably, Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, John Lee Hooker, James Cotton, and Buddy Guy.
For decades, “Region Rats” were looked down upon for their working-class/immigrant/mixed blood heritage. Regardless of income, career, or social status in Northwest Indiana, Region Rats were looked down upon by others around the state. More recently, however, being a Region Rat is a badge of honor. Region Rats are tough and descended from a long line of hard-working individuals who fought hard for union rights, resulting in better wages and work conditions, which really helped to fuel the local economy. The Region mills, factories and refineries of Gary, Hammond, East Chicago, and Whiting are only minutes away from the South Side of Chicago and its immediate connected cities to the south; Burnham and Calumet City, also part of “Da Region”.
Yours truly grew up in Calumet City, Illinois. My childhood memories of the 1970s and 1980s contain memories of the dreaded northeast winds blowing off Lake Michigan, carrying the smells and pollution of the industrial smokestacks into my neighborhood. Looking to the east on any given morning in The Region (particularly before the EPA started clamping down), we were witness to what could be described as a ‘black sunrise’.
Northwest Indiana is literally disconnected from the rest of the state. Before the internet, our news, music, sports; virtually everything, was fed by Chicago media. We love ‘Da Bears’, hail Michael Jordan as THE G.O.A.T., took vacation days during the Blackhawks Stanley Cup dynasty, all while becoming mortal enemies during baseball season. Rock radio in Chicago wasn’t awful back then either. The legendary WLUP (The LOOP) fed us ample amounts of heavy rock, which undoubtedly shaped the musical tastes and minds of all those who tuned in on a regular basis. There is zero debate that the heavy rock scene was born from the Chicago Blues. On any given night from the 1970’s to today, touring musicians would pay homage to their forefathers by stopping in and jamming at the many legendary southside Chicago Blues joints in hopes to trade a few licks with the legends.
The Blues Had a Baby…
“The blues had a baby, and they named it rock and roll”
-Muddy Waters
In a strange way, it is bizarre to fathom that those of us living in The Region are basically residing in the ground zero of the forefathers of heavy music. British blues labels began importing American Blues records into England pretty much from the get-go in the 1950’s. We’re all grateful to whatever radio stations and record shops in the industrial areas around Great Britain, specifically Birmingham, who put the Chicago Blues in the right ears at the right time. There’s no doubt that the folks in the West Midlands witnessed many a black sunrise as we Region Rats have.
From the Shadows: Black Sunrise
Rising from the shadows of The Region steel mills, Black Sunrise released their debut EP, The Big Show in December of 2023; only three months after my band released our debut album, Porta Coeli. I came across the release on a local Facebook original music group. Giddy at the fact that there was another group of like-minded individuals releasing original Stoner Rock in the area, I immediately reached out to the band’s bassist, Adam Carl, only to find out that I’d been friends with the drummer, Billy Mayer, for decades; we traveled in the same musical circles and I worked in the same town as he resides in for years. I knew Billy’s cousin, vocalist Tommy Mayer, from his time in Billy’s last original project.
Additionally, guitarist Jason Zlamal was very active on my Region Rat Guitarists Facebook page, posting some of his amazing lutherie (that’s guitar building for those of you not in the know). From there, we teamed up with another Region Stoner Rock band, Team Hoss, to put on some shows and continue to have an amazing, supportive relationship with each other.
Black Sunrise began to turn some heads in the heavy rock community, appearing on Weedian: Trip to Indiana, and doing some video content on The Heavy Underground Farm Report with our brother, S. Patrick Brooks. They’ve supported The Obsessed, Bongzilla, Kadabra, Hippie Death Cult, and Volume, to name a few. When we’re not sharing a stage, we’ve made it a point to go to each other’s shows when possible. A rising tide raises all ships! The tide is rising fast in Da Region, folks. Grab your life jackets for the risk of drowning!
Black Sunrise: Drowning
Scheduled for release on August 22th, Black Sunrise’s full-length and self-released album, Drowning, contains re-recorded songs from the EP, The Big Show, with a plethora of new tracks which drag us through the grit and grime of Da Region with one foot planted deep in the Chicago Blues, while the other sinks it’s heel firmly in the heavy origins of Birmingham. Incredibly heavy and catchy riffs abound throughout Drowning.
The first single, Bar Fight, dropped on July 1st and 2 weeks later, had already hit 1,000 streams on Spotify.
I’ve heard the song several times during their live performances, and it’s a jumper, kids! What I really like about Bar Fight is that not only is it a riff-laden gut punch, but this tune also takes me back to circa 1981 Motley: fist-pumping, beer-drinking, anthem-singing, raw Regional Rock! Bar Fight is an incredible choice for the opening track on this album.
Seconds into the stomping second track, Hey Now, we are introduced to guest musician, Lucas Theroux from the Kankakee, Illinois-based Wolfdozer on harmonica, who tips his cap to the legendary Chicago Blues harp player, James Cotton throughout the song. Jason lays down some tasty slide guitar, tying the old with the new, as the rhythm section of Billy Mayer (drums) and Adam Carl (bass) hammers away, giving Tommy an incredible foundation to sing over.
Track three’s One God gives a nod to the current political climate with yet another heavy rocker featuring another great sing-along style chorus; “… who are ya gonna chose, one God over nation???…”
New Enemy introduces us to the incredible Stoner Rock grooves Black Sunrise construct. Shifting gears mid-song for the sludgy bridge and guitar solo section really demonstrate their ability to direct where they want to take the listener.
Forget Regret, in my opinion, can be easily added to any series or movie soundtrack; I envision this number playing under any episode of Sons of Anarchy. Beginning with the clean guitar dictating the mood of the song, it ebbs and flows from delicate to thunderous and ends perfectly.
The title track, Drowning, is a slow and funky romp until mid-song, where the lads gallop along throughout the guitar solo. Breaking back into the main riff post-solo, we are brought back into the funky goodness established at the beginning and then back into the head-banging for the outro.
Panic Attack reaffirms that this album remains a solid listen, with no fillers. The main riff is Stoner Rock Heaven! Tommy’s vocal cadence fills the riffs perfectly and you can tell that this band is locked in!
Running Out of Time is a catchy rocker uplifted by yet another great establishing riff by Jason Zlamal. The lads in Black Sunrise really know how to construct a great “to the point” song.
A ‘stankface’ riff introduces us to Nightman, track nine on the album. This one stays low and slow, giving the vocals an opportunity to shine throughout the verses and choruses on this number.
Big Show is the root of Black Sunrise. This song is the title track from their original EP (mentioned above) and deserved a revisit in the studio. The production throughout the whole album presents Black Sunrise as they ought to be; no frills, consistent, and deserving of a larger audience.
Drowning closes with track eleven’s We All Run. Immediate hits of Iommi right out of the gate and continues throughout. The breakdown at 2:20 just made this my favorite track of the whole album.
The Black Sunrise boys have released an aural ambassador that represents generations of Region Rats wrapped up in a soundtrack of solid, straight-up blue-collar Stoner Rock in Drowning.
As of this writing, Black Sunrise is in New York, releasing this on all streaming platforms. Given the fact that this eleven-song release will be a logistical challenge to put on a single vinyl, I don’t envy them as they navigate the steps to make physical copies available. I suggest all of you hit their Bandcamp site and be generous with your streaming purchases so they can fund this whole release onto a double album.