Review: Black Oak County – Misprint

Mighty Music – April 10^th, 2026

Reviewer – David Brighouse

This is the 4^th Album from the Danish hard rockers and once again Nicklas Sonne has co-written, produced, engineered, mixed and mastered the record.

Opener and lead single ‘Kill The Pain‘ builds slowly into a thumping wall of sound, but there is melody there as well in the sing along chorus which is both encouraging and defiant. ‘Rock’n Roll‘ is a mid-paced number, with a driving riff and is an anthem to why the band live the life they do – ‘’We were born to Rock’n Roll‘’ – Oh yes, they certainly were. ‘Vertigo‘ starts with a strong groove with the drums to the fore, before the distorted vocal of René comes in followed closely by Niels’ growl, the song flows interestingly back and forth, all the time driven forward but the underlying rhythm.

René takes lead on ‘Around the Sun‘ his cleaner vocal delivery providing a different dimension, but with the driving rhythm still present and some great guitar work. ‘Starlight‘ is as ballad which shows that Niels can do a melodic love song just as well as rocking out, it has a sweet chorus and strong guitar solo. ‘Kiss & Tell‘ has a repetitive riff and a catchy chorus in a fast paced straight ahead rocker. ‘Fade‘ is another melodic track with a strong riff and solid bass line which really builds to an explosive finish.

‘Energy‘ sees the lead vocal duties being shared again, with backing vocals which give added depth to this short hard-hitting track. ‘Sick and Tired‘ allows Niels to vent his frustrations with life over furious drumming, in a song with a great groove and another catchy chorus. ‘Before I Break‘ continues the trend of strong meaningful lyrics in a song that has changes of tempo and real light and shade. With ‘Landmine‘ the lyrics are more straight forward but no less powerful, another hard hitter of a track. Final track ‘The Shadow‘ is a finely constructed song with the vocals again shared, it has more feel than the previous track, contains a fine guitar solo and is an energetic finale.

This is the bands heaviest album to date and the production values have really stepped up a level. These are a really great collection of well crafted songs with strong messages, and come highly recommended for all fans of Heavy Rock in the vein of Metallica and Five Finger Death Punch.

Tracklisting:

1. Kill The Pain
2. Rock’n Roll
3. Vertigo
4. Around The Sun
5. Starlight
6. Kiss & Tell
7. Fade
8. Energy
9. Sick and Tired
10. Before I Break
11. Landmine
12. The Shadow

Line-up:

Niels Beier – guitar, vocals
René Kristensen – bass, vocals
Jack Svendsen – guitar
Mike Svendsen – drums

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