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On the heels of its sophomore release, New York City rock band Black Satellite will perform in Rochester next week as special guests of MushroomHead, along with Psychostick and Mind Incision.
Their second album,“Aftermath,” is a 15-track collection with the overarching theme of rebuilding. Larissa Vale, the band’s frontwoman, says that upon sitting down to actually write lyrics, it was as simple as the word “Aftermath” itself sticking out in her head.
“The whole process of writing the record was interesting because it was unraveling what aftermath meant to me, layer by layer as I was writing each song,” she says. “But it all just stemmed around that one thought, you have to be broken down to rebuild stronger.
“It’s about coming through the rubble after tragedy or hardship and doing the hard work to be able to move on,” Vale adds.
Becoming a musician did not involve completely rebuilding Vale’s persona, however; she knew she wanted to be a rocker from as early as elementary school. Already with an interest in music and with an older brother who blasted music from his room, Vale came up with the name Black Satellite at age 15 as an eerie and compelling image.
The band’s sound is a healthy combination of industrial rock and heavy metal. Vigorous guitars and explosive drums are tied together with Vale’s edgy and emotive vocals. Her voice can transform from raspy anger to shouts of desperation.
For example, in “Kill for You,” one of the singles from “Aftermath,” Vale declares her devotion to someone even with the threat of violence or fear.
“I will kill for you/Take a bullet for you/I’ll keep you safe from everything/I will kill for you,” the song’s chorus forcefully proclaims. “After everything you’ve been put through/You deserve to be happier, you knew/No one will show you the faith that I do/I’m morе devoted to you than the truth.”
In the music video for the song, Vale also literally faced her fears. A lifelong arachnophobe, the singer let a tarantula crawl across her arm and face for the shoot.
“I love conquering my fears in music videos and ‘Kill for You’ is no exception,” says Vale.
“It looks cool, makes me look cooler than I am,” she comments about the spider with a laugh. “That was a really stressful shooting day, but I did it for the art.”
Black Satellite will perform on Oct. 15 at Anthology opening for MushroomHead, with special guests Psychostick and Mind Incision. Tickets are $39.74 with VIP upgrades, which include a meet and greet, photo op, private signing session and more with Black Satellite, also available for $41.
Jacob Schermerhorn is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer and data journalist.
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