Lead Us To Reason, The Black Maria’s debut album surprised me in more than one way. First of all I don’t like hardcore emo, but I liked what I was hearing. Secondly, I was pleasantly surprised by the warm mix on the album, giving me the opportunity to enjoy bass, drums, guitars and piano equally, something I rarely hear on a hardcore emo album. Finally I was baffled by the fine melodies on the album and the ingenious poppy ingredients the band put into their music. The latter becomes obvious in the second track on the album, “Betrayal” one of my personal favorites, where gentle slightly psychedelic piano / synthesizers ala Coldplay give the song hit potential.

Lead Us To Reason is a well balanced album where straightforward hardcore tracks are alternated with more pace changes. These light sounding parts are excellent, combining delightful deep and warm drums with gentle guitars before exploding into another kick ass popcore section. The Black Maria will definitely gain media attention with this release and that is not just because of the history of the band members originating from the bands Grade, Zyon and New Day Rising.