Black Light Burns
Black Light Burns is an Alternative Rock band with Industrial Metal influences, formed by Limp Bizkit guitarist/Ensemble Darkhorse Wes Borland, who is its sole constant member.
Previously involved in ill-fated solo projects Big Dumb Face, Eat the Day and The Damning Well, Borland started BLB after leaving Limp Bizkit for a second time in 2005. Assuming multiple instrumental duties (guitar, bass, keyboards, percussion) and taking over vocals, he began to write a solo album, enlisting Danny Lohner, Charlie Clouser, Josh Freese and Josh Eustis as contributors. The resulting album, Cruel Melody, was released in 2007 and received good reviews. Borland then assembled a new lineup for touring.
During a break in touring, the new lineup released an album of covers and instrumental B-sides, Cover Your Heart and the Anvil Pants Odyssey. The album came with a DVD that included a tour documentary and the music videos for "Mesopotamia", "4 Walls" and "Lie".
The band is currently on hiatus due to Borland rejoining Limp Bizkit, but he announced in February 2012 that the second album, The Moment You Realise You're Going To Fall, will be released in September-October through the Rocket Science Ventures/THC:Music/RED label.
Current members:
- Wes Borland - vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, programming
- Nick Annis - guitars
- Dennis Sanders Jr. - bass (replacing former bassist Sean Fetterman)
- Marshall Kilpatric - drums
- Cruel Melody (2007)
- Cover Your Heart and the Anvil Pants Odyssey (2008)
- Cover Album: Cover Your Heart and the Anvil Pants Odyssey. Artists covered include Lard, Duran Duran, PJ Harvey, The Sisters of Mercy, Swans and The Stooges.
- Dream Team: The contributors list of Cruel Melody can read like one - Josh Freese, Dahnny Lohner, Charlie Clouser (all NIN contributors/members), Josh Eustis (Telefon Tel Aviv), Sonny "Skrillex" Moore (From First to Last, a band Wes previously played bass with), his Limp Bizkit bandmate Sam Rivers, Carina Round and Johnette Napolitano (Concrete Blonde, also appeared on a Deftones album). Additionally, "Mesopotamia"'s mixing is credited to famous Nu-metal producer Ross Robinson.
- Epic Rocking: Inverted - their longest songs so far are also their lowest on the Mohs Scale of Rock and Metal Hardness ("I Am Where It Takes Me" is largely atmospheric in style, and "Iodine Sky" is an extended ambient instrumental).
- I Am the Band: Wes Borland.
- Instrumentals: "Iodine Sky".
- Mohs Scale of Rock and Metal Hardness: Their harder tunes ("Lie", "Coward", "One of Yours") top out around 5, "Cruel Melody" is around 3, "New Water" is mostly 2 and "Iodine Sky" and "I Am Where It Takes Me" are a 1.
- Precision F-Strike: "Lie" and "Coward".
- Record Producer: Contrary to what you'd expect from a side project, Cruel Melody is actually produced by Danny Lohner - Wes only has a mixing credit on "Iodine Sky".
- Start My Own: How the band came to be.