Description
Drawing Black Lines is the sophomore studio album by the American hardcore band Project 86, originally released on BEC Recordings in March 2000, a division of Tooth & Nail Records. The album was reissued with Atlantic Records branding after the major label signed the band. The album was recorded by Andre Wahl assisted by Scott Ternan at The Factory Studios in Vancouver, Canada; with GGGarth (a.k.a. Garth Richardson) producing. Mixed by Wahl assisted by Roger Swan at Hipposonic Studios in Vancouver, Canada; with tracks 2, 3 and 7 mixed at The Warehouse Studio in Vancouver. The music on the album shows significant gains in maturity, advancing from a rapcore sound to one classified as metalcore or alternative metal.
For their sophomore album on BEC, Drawing Black Lines, Project 86 has recruited famed producer GGGarth (Rage Against the Machine, The Melvins) to tweak their signature sound a bit. GGGarth and his programmer, Fu (Marilyn Manson, Orgy) have done a splendid job, and eliminate most of the monotony and poor production that plague most hardcore albums.
Unlike tourmates Blindside, Project 86 does not vary their sound by changing vocal styles and textures – lead singer Andrew Schwab uses standard rapping-screaming vocals on almost every track (with the exception of «PS» and «Star», both of which feature decent melodies). Instead of changing Schwab’s vocals, the band opts to use different guitar sounds to make their songs more interesting. Randy Torres’ guitars often go from chorus pedal to flange pedal to distortion pedal in a single song, which keeps the listener from growing weary of the sound.
The band continues to show their fascination with Asian culture in the liner notes of Drawing Black Lines, as well as in the song «PS», in which a woman whispers in Japanese about being the victim of pornography. This, too, adds interest to the album and breaks up the monotony.
The lyrics are excellent, as well. From songs about the spiritual wasteland that is our modern world («One-Armed Man») to songs that address the band’s enemies and critics («Set Me Up»), Schwab proves himself to be quite a competent lyricist, never resorting to clichés or easy rhymes. This being a hardcore album, the lyrics are very dark, and fit the music quite well.
Drawing Black Lines may well prove to be one of the quintessential Christian hardcore albums, and in ten years, other bands making this type of music may be looking in its direction to see how to do it right. [Michial Farmer, The Phantom Tollbooth, 3/5/2000]
Solid State Records should be busting with pride for their releases this past year by Zao, Training for Utopia, Embodyment, and Project 86; each band has reached peaks previously unsurmounted, pushing boundaries and pummeling listeners with power and excellence. In particular, Project 86’s latest is a masterpiece of original hardcore. It has it all: rough aggression, memorable songwriting, quiet atmospheric passages to highlight the furious ones, passionate and fluid vocals, and clever, creative spirit-heavy lyrics. It’s a continuation of the sound on their first album, with the main noticeable difference being a move away from rapcore vocals to more hardcore shouts and singing, without losing any of the characteristic fluidity. Get this if you want to rock. Get this if you want to think. Get this if want to feel. Heck, just get it. [Josh Spencer, The Phantom Tollbooth, 06/17/2000]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/drawing-black-lines/358614808)
CD tracklist:
01. Stein’s Theme – 3:54
02. One-Armed Man (Play On) – 3:44
03. Me Against Me – 3:38
04. PS – 5:54
05. Set Me Up – 3:07
06. Chimes – 4:58
07. A Toast To My Former Self – 3:23
08. Sad Machines – 4:16
09. Star – 4:53
10. Chapter 2 – 3:16
11. Open Hand – 2:39
12. Twenty-Three – 12:57
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD. The BEC and Atlantic pressings are virtually the same. The original BEC version has a full-color booklet with a fold out on both ends of band photos. The Atlantic version is condensed into regular pages and for some reason is only in black and white. There are also minor alterations in the album artwork, as well as the CD itself. Available at Bandcamp: https://project86.bandcamp.com/album/drawing-black-lines-20th-anniversary
A full-page advertisement for various new releases on BEC Recordings, including Project 86’s Drawing Black Lines, was featured in the October 1999 issue of CCM Magazine.
“One Armed Man” (MUSIC VIDEO)
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