38 illinoisentertainer. com november 2025
Continued from page 18 37 by loon vocalizations. The call of the loons, one of the most revered northwoods birds, combined with the guitar strumming, is hypnotic – only to be broken by the guttural shrieks that start the crushing momentum of“ God of Black Blood,” one of the best compositions on the album. Like earlier tracks on the album Wardrums at Dawn on the Day of my Death and The Dying Breath of a Sacred Stag,“ God of Black Blood” displays the galloping blast beats and guitar riffage of past Blackbraid
album offerings. Blackbraid III may have more acoustic, atmospheric tracks than other albums by the artist, but there’ s more than enough heaviness to balance it out.“ Tears of the Dawn” is a black metal epic that rumbles along for over nine minutes. But the most sublime moments happen when tracks veer into folk black metal territory:“ God of Black Blood” seamlessly weaves a flute solo into the guitar breakdown groove, perhaps the second-best moment on the album.
– Jason Scales
8 STING Sting 3.0 Live( Cherrytree / A & M)
Sting has experienced world-dominating success as the frontman of the Police, the world’ s top rock band, during the‘ 80s heyday. Since leaving his old bandmates behind 40 years ago, he’ s made an enviable career of doing whatever he wants as a bandleader. Sting has pursued loves of jazz, pop ballads, symphonic rock, and even classical lute without having to battle the“ other two blond heads” of Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers. However, there’ s an undeniable appeal to Sting’ s music when rendered in the elemental trio format of bass, guitar, and drums. Sting 3.0 Live documents Sting’ s work alongside longtime sideman Dominic Miller and drummer Chris Maas, captured in late 2024 during the ongoing Sting 3.0 tour. The trio opens with Police ' s evergreen“ Message in a Bottle” and amplifies the reggae elements of solo single“ Englishman in New York,” pausing to stoke the audience in call-andresponse. The group settles into ballad territory for the romantic and wistful“ Fields of Gold,” featuring Miller’ s gliding guitar solo. Maas drives the odd-time jazz-pop of“ Seven Days” with cymbal work, rim shots, and fills that are reminiscent of Copeland’ s touch.“ Are you counting?” Sting asks some studious fans.“ We’ re clapping in 5 / 4 time,” he adds before quoting the Police’ s“ Shadows in the Rain.” After the breezy and cinematic“ All This Time,” the band settles back into the Police catalog for several songs, including“ Driven to Tears,” the hard-driving paranoia of“ Synchronicity II,” chart-topping stalker ballad“ Every Breath You Take,” and the spiky“ Roxanne”( with enthusiastic crowd participation). There’ s no denying the band’ s skillful interplay, although the set will best suit fans of Sting’ s lengthy solo tenure. Any Police fan is likely to miss the edge generated by the strong-willed trio’ s internal tug-of-war. Rest assured that Sting is never heard turning to scream“ Too fast!” at the meticulous Maas. Miller’ s confident chording in“ Synchronicity II” hits every mark but lacks Summers’ slash-andburn energy. For his part, Sting still delivers his vocals with power and plays nimble bass in lockstep with Maas’ steady tempo. The main album ends gently with the muted tension and captivating bass that drive“ Be Still My Beating Heart.” … and that’ s the experience offered by the standard LP and CD release of Sting 3.0 Live. If this band’ s polished musicality is perfectly suited to your taste, your mission is to seek a 2xLP copy from Record Store Day 2025. The track list doubles with a deeper dive into Sting’ s solo work and the Police catalog. Synchronicity’ s moody“ Wrapped Around Your Finger” and mysterious“ Tea in the Sahara” are well matched to the band’ s measured and textural approach. Extra solo pieces include the atmospheric“ It’ s Probably Me” with its message of reluctant brotherly love and an extended solo from Miller. Miller’ s most outgoing guitar playing appears during the Sacred Love single“ Never Coming Home.” The story of a fed-up housewife is retooled with an arrangement that borrows Summers’ tumbling arpeggios from“ Bring on the Night” and razor-sharp chords from“ When the World is Running Down, You Make the Best of What’ s Still Around.” The band mesmerizes with the single“ Fortress Around Your Heart” that launched Sting’ s post-Police run up the charts. The tumbling“ Shape of My Heart” is the song of a gambler in search of deeper meaning via games of chance. The rocking song of devotion,“ I Wrote Your Name( Upon My Heart),” with its adrenalized Bo Diddley beat, is exclusive to the 2xLP pressing. The set concludes as the trio bounds through the reggae-rock and fatalism of the early Police single“ Can’ t Stand Losing You.” For a further encore, find a digital outlet to hear the set conclude with the understated Latinpop of the undeniably lovely“ Fragile,” which tears over humanity’ s violent nature. The song appears on neither the CD nor the RSD set.
– Jeff Elbel
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