Black Widow-Black Widow (1970)

With their second release, the British progressive heavy metal band Black Widow shed the satanic and gloomy lyrics of their previous album, but at the same time, they also lost the vitality and freshness of their music, delivering a more conventional and predictable work. This second album is composed of a mix of heavy progressive heavy metal pieces with more melodic ones, all driven by a visceral rhythm section, a prominent Hammond organ, and bluesy and funky guitar riffs. The album's opening couldn't be more promising with the hard rock/blues track "Tears and Wine", an interesting song with dynamic interplay between the guitar riffs and the Hammond organ. This is followed by less compelling tracks such as the bittersweet "The Gypsy," the rock and roll "When My Mind Was Young", and the uneven "The Journey", three songs that show a certain lack of inspiration, creativity, and instrumental development. On the other hand, the most outstanding tracks on an album that, despite not creatively surpassing its tremendous debut, is an interesting collection of typical heavy hard rock songs from the early 70s, are the powerful blues rock "Poser", the sinister and moving "Mary Clark", the heavy rock "Wait Until Tomorrow" and the galloping progressive jazz "Legend of Creation".