Black Tide

Black Tide, appearing with Bleeding Through and Bullet for My Valentine, is almost literally a baby band: Guitarist/singer Gabriel Garcia doesn't even qualify for a driver's license yet, and none of his bandmates has reached legal drinking age. Still, they're old enough to know better than to venture too far...

By Michael Roberts

September 18, 2008

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Black Tide, appearing with Bleeding Through and Bullet for My Valentine, is almost literally a baby band: Guitarist/singer Gabriel Garcia doesn't even qualify for a driver's license yet, and none of his bandmates has reached legal drinking age. Still, they're old enough to know better than to venture too far from hard rock's rudiments. The notorious conservatism of the genre is well-established, with stylistic shifts taking place gradually if at all — and these Floridians seem happy to leave things just the way they are. Light From Above, released earlier this year on the Interscope mega-label, is sleek and propulsive in the '90s-metal mode, with tunes such as "Give Me a Chance" and "Show Me the Way" offering up melodic riffology accompanied by precisely zero surprises. As of now, the musical template corporate concerns have been dispensing for so long seems to fit the Black Tide boys perfectly. But they're young enough to grow out of it.

Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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