Brooklyn, New York's BLACK WATER RISING describes themselves as "No Frills Riff Rock." "Electrified" is the band's third album, from Pavement Music, and contains eleven new tracks. Let's get to some of the highlights. "Buried in Black" is the opening track. The heavy guitar riff is complimented by Traynor's melodic but edgy vocals. Stylistically I hear elements of both the Hard Rock and Post-Grunge. "Electrified" has another aggressive guitar riff that harkens back to the time when a crushing riff and the thud of bass guitar and kick drum could sell your sound. The vocals move in a swinging rhythm over top of the instruments.

"Higher" has a pulsing energy from a riff that covers a lot of ground. The vocals bring out the melody in the song for the most part. I believe this would make for a nice single in particular. "Millennial Zombies" is a bit groovier on the spectrum, and perhaps a bit darker in scope. A guitar solo with prolific doses of "wah-wah" and some burning fretwork caps off the sound. "Payback" is a song that opens with a faster riff but then quickly settles into a lumbering movement, letting that low guitar riff hang out there, chewing at you endlessly, as the proverbial "payback is a bitch" is the lyrical message.

"The Answer" is another riff driven track with a dirty and chunky rhythm guitar, and the message is that the answer is not based on lies from others, but rather what you know within yourself. "World of Frustration" closes the album. What Hard Rock album would be complete without a softer entry? In this case, the warm acoustical guitars and contemplative vocals build a song that we can all connect with. The emotional moments are marked with an empathy that push you to move forward through challenging times. Overall, I found the album to be very much what was described. It is absolutely no-frills, riff driven Hard Rock. There is clearly still a market out there for this kind of music, though it isn't anything that we have not heard before. The strength lies in the genuine approach to songwriting.