Black Ribbons

by Stephen Thomas ErlewineGive Shooter Jennings credit for this: he has the chutzpah to break with his country-rock roots on Black Ribbons, envisioning a Dystopian future on this vague concept album. Black Ribbons has its clear precedents, but it’s hard to hear Shooter's NIN-flavored fusion retelling of Radio KAOS as narrated by Stephen King and think that this is something unique -- and even as it endlessly circles the same dark murk for 70 minutes, it’s hard not to marvel at Jennings confidence in his Frankenstein metal-prog, because there sure is nothing quite like it, even if it’s ultimately more exhausting than challenging.