Black Rainbows – Superskull

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · Published August 17, 2024 · Updated November 15, 2024

The heavy stoner rock genre has a large inventory of bands nowadays. Every so often a band will slip through the cracks to later be discovered and then you wonder, how did I miss this one? That was certainly the case with me and Black Rainbows. I remember seeing their name often on big fuzz rock music festivals happening overseas and abroad. Finally, I decided to investigate this band and realized that they had 7 plus full length albums out, eps and splits, and that they have been around since 2006 or so. Damn, what have I been missing? As it turns out, a lot! Black Rainbows are freaking awesome! I think it was the end of 2022 that I discovered them. I literally binged on all of their records for two straight months and then kept going back for more. I saw that they were releasing a new record called Superskull and I was really impressed by what this band were all about. The different musical influences that they cover on each and every recording is impressive. They have heavy, groovy and riff centric records like Carmina Diabola and Supermothafuzzalicious to psychedelic and spacy Hawkdope and Stellar Prophecy. I especially enjoy Pandaemonium and Cosmic Ritual Supertrip where they combine all of those musical elements and enhance their sound even more. I learned that the band is a power trio based in Roma, Italy.

Superskull was released on June 9th, 2023. The band consists of: Gabriele Fiori on vocals and guitar, Edoardo “Mancio” Mancini on bass, and Filippo Ragazzoni on drums. Featuring 12 songs total, Superskull cranks out the riffs right from the gate. “Apocalypse March” opens the record with heavy and grooving riffs that are immediately crushing. You can’t help but bob your head instinctively. The riffs are massive and the song has a catchy feel to its chorus. They lead into “Superhero Dopeproof,” the first single from the record. This is another fantastic song! The fuzzy riffs flow into each another with precision and ferocity. The third track “Children of Fire And Sacrifices” starts with a cool drum intro that leads into yet another devastating riff. The band has a plethora of fuzzy rhythms that they unleash upon us. “Cosmic Ride Of The Crystal Skull” bombards us with heavy and tight accented riffing that smooths into guitar driven ecstasy. Around the two and half minute mark they add in some samples that add more texture to the song.

The band shifts gears on the fifth song and starts with a slow and spacy acoustic number called “The Pilgrim Son.” The phaser sounds in the background shine a new dimension to this album with a nice slow buildup and good vocals to accommodate. The music has psychedelic guitar leads and offers a little reprieve from the prior heavy barrage of riffage. However, “Till The Outerspace” picks up the heavy grooving once again and forges ahead with guitar overdriven serenity. The seventh song “Lone Wolf” is a nice surprise to this record. Gabriele Fiori’s voice reminds me of Ozzy a bit but I am most enthralled with the riffs and flow structures of this one. The band is really jamming! They settle things back down on “King Snake” with a nice sounding acoustic song with trippy and more psychedelic overtones. The song writing and placements of these songs are perfect. Black Rainbows gives the listener a full spectrum experience of sonic mastery. The melodic songs placed between the hard driven rockers are perfect. The sound quality on this record is also superb. The guitars in particular are upfront in the mix but not taking away from the bass and drum sound.

The song “Desert Sun” was originally on their Live At Deserfest Belgium record which came out in 2022. What a monster of a song! The studio version sounds so massive and that main riff is so righteous. They then go back to clean guitars and a lighter approach with “All The Chaos In Mine.” They incorporate swirls of psychedelia and great guitar leads towards the end of the song. “Megalomania” starts with clean guitar and then cranks into a cool rock groove with good vocals too. Finally, the last track called “Fire In The Sky,” closes out the record. It’s a straight up mid pace rocker with some guitar phasing and excellent leads added in.

Overall, I was super impressed with this recording as a whole. Superskull has no filler tracks and Black Rainbows certainly know how to kick out the jams and create some of the most fantastic fuzzy riffs in the genre today.