Album review: SHADES OF PLATO – Blackout

Platonic Arrangements [Release date 20.06.24] shadesofplato1.bandcamp.com/

Any album with a song title ‘Bacteria With Shoes’ demands attention. And you’ll find it on the third album from gothic rockers Shades Of Plato. By their own admission this album predicts a post-pandemic apocalypse “a gothic treatise on mortality and the decline of civilisation”.

It’s a strangely enticing mixture of flute driven riffs (courtesy of one ‘Ol Dirty) and new wave pace. In a weird way, it reminded me of a band called Black Widow. I assume that Shades Of Plato refrain from sacrificing a nude virgin on stage as did that band.

In a sense ‘Blackout’ is out of its time and of its time. The jaunty blasts of punk prog collectively evoke bands like Hawkwind and The Stranglers. The pace seldom slackens. It’s a nice package too with thoughtful lyrics that also demand attention.

The extra instrumental tagged on surreptitiously at the end (of the limited CD), and the band photos, suggest that Shades Of Plato have a theatrical bent waiting to be unleashed on a stage near you. Nude virgins anyone? ***1/2

Review by David Randall

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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Josh now hosts “Taerk’s Tracks” as part of the Singer Songwriter Sunday sequence on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio.

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Power Plays w/c 26 October 2026

BLACK RIVER DELTA Shame On You (Despotz Records)
DAYTONA Listen To The Silence (Escape Music)
SUCKERTRAP Sacred Lies (indie)
WOOD BURNT RED Count My Blessings (indie)
BLACKLIST UNION Heavy Is The Crown (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 26 October 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)

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