Style: Heavy metal, progressive metal (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Judas Priest, Dio, Black Sabbath, Down, Alice in Chains
Country: United States (Illinois)
Release date: 17 July 2026

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Us progressive-leaning metalheads have accumulated a complex and colorful outer shell. With every subgenre (and sub-subgenre) explored, additional layers aggregate, forming our distinct, individualized musical palates. At our gooey core lives the initial influence that started the dark winding path of heavy music. If you were able to cut through the harsh and dissonant laminae of my aloe vera-like musical tastes, the inside would be a gelatinous Ozzy Osbourne and Randy Rhoads-heavy metal infused substance. This explains my soft spot for riffs and huge vocal hooks. Chicago’s progressive-leaning heavy metal act, Black Sites, have awakened my inner Priest and Sabbath-core since 2019’s Exile, and seek to add to their consistently solid discography with their fifth LP, For Eternity.

Black Sites have developed a clear identity built on arena-sized guitar licks and Mark Sugar’s distinct vocal tone, and For Eternity continues to deliver on both of these fronts. Sugar commands his lines with his characteristic, slightly raspy voice. While he has always been central to Black Sites’ sound, his voice is more prominent and central in the mix compared to previous albums, including their most recent, The Promised Land?. The result is an often Sugar-centric performance, dominating over the instrumentation. With this, Sugar’s repetitive call-and-answer structured choruses in “When it Calls” and “Silent Wars” become tedious. High points are aplenty though, the grandiose ascending chorus of “When Prophecy Falls” and palpable anger that Sugar spits in “Aquarius Betrayed” show the strength of his vocal chops and unique tone which underlies Black Sites’ appeal.

But what about those licks? Don’t you worry, they remain. Sugar and Lee Smith’s guitars snarl with massive grooves in “Giving up the Ghost” and “Blades (For the Chosen One)”. Additional stand out moments come when progressive elements are infused into Black Sites’ songwriting. The acoustic strumming of “Aquarius Betrayed” and layers of airy, harmonized guitars in “Prophecy Falls” are unexpected changes in pace that greatly benefit For Eternity’s flow. “Above Soil Beneath Sky” is a dynamic track, demonstrating Black Sites’ ability to interweave groove, melody, and vocal hooks into a tight sub-five-minute package. For the most part, though, Sugar and Smith play it a smidge too safe. The guitar performances are often passive behind Sugar’s verses, allowed to step out and shine only when his voice quiets. Album closer “Unanswered for Eternity” opens with a delicious interplay of harmonized guitars though gives way to indistinct clean guitar verses which take up the majority of the track. While For Eternity closes with a series of hair-raising solos, it’s hard to shake the blandness that preceded.

While Black Sites’ riffs and Sugar’s voice have offered lasting impressions over the recent years, their ability to construct beautiful, melodic harmonies can’t be overlooked. A Jerry Cantrell-like mournful guitar wailing atop clean acoustics in “Blades (For the Chosen One)” and in the background of the chorus of “Giving up the Ghost” adds an emotional depth to the For Eternity. Their ability to fluidly shift between hard-hitting grooves, subtle acoustics, and lamenting harmonies result in a dynamic listen rather than the predictable and monotonous experience that characterizes so many heavy metal acts. That being said, in their fifth album, Black Sites would have benefited from further advancing their sound into newer, dare I say progressive, territories rather than playing it safe with their standard approach.

Does For Eternity have groovy riffs, vocal hooks, and melodic harmonies sprinkled throughout? Yes, but on the whole they don’t amount to a composition that gets my inner heavy metalhead stirring as I had hoped. For Black Sites, For Eternity feels like a lateral step rather than an evolution of their sound, and as a result, a bit disappointing. The highs reached in For Eternity warrant a listen but they’re unlikely to remain in the listening rotation for, well, for eternity. 

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Recommended tracks: Aquarius Betrayed, Above Soil Beneath Sky, Blades (For the Chosen One)
You may also like: Pharoah, Sumerlands, Traveler, High Spirits
Final verdict: 6.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram

Label: Independent Release

Black Sites is:
– Mark Sugar (vocals and guitar)
– José Salazar (bass)
– Chris Black (drums)
– Lee Smith (guitar)

With guests:
– Vladimir “Kebac” Ruzicic (recorded drums for the album)