Tension of Opposites

Tension of Opposites, Blood Red Velvet's third album, was mastered in New York City on August 29, 2005, the day that Hurricane Katrina began ravaging the city where BRV is based: New Orleans. It would be inaccurate to say that the Hurricane Katrina tragedy inspired any of the darker emotions that BRV frontman Bruno U.K. Steiner expresses on this 74-minute disc; the band had already finished the writing and recording process by the time Katrina struck. But one could argue that Tension of Opposites is a pre-Katrina recording with a post-Katrina outlook. Steiner's lyrics tend to be brooding and darkly introspective; Tension of Opposites is not optimistic, and no one will mistake this release for good-time party music (something that the Crescent City has given us plenty of over the years). Of course, art doesn't have to be optimistic to have merit — everyone from Billie Holiday to Slayer to N.W.A to Black Flag found creative inspiration by closely examining the dark side — and Tension of Opposites has a lot of merit. Stylistically, this CD is not a departure from BRV's previous releases, Born Among the Ruins and Romeo's Bones. REM, the Cure and 10,000 Maniacs are still influences, and Steiner still sounds a lot like R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe. BRV is still undeniably derivative, which is not a bad thing; actually, It's a good thing. They won't win any awards for pointing alternative pop/rock, adult alternative, or folk-rock in any new directions, but they certainly get high marks for craftsmanship, quality, and depth. Derivative does not have to mean generic or uninspired; there is good derivative and bad derivative, and good derivative is exactly what prevails on the rewarding Tension of Opposites.