Chickenhawk

The UK Metal and Hardcore scene’s are in very good shape, especially if you look to the underground. This year has already spawned some heavy gems in the form of Down I Go, Rolo Tomassi, Montana, Adebisi Shank, Maths, Throats… I would go on but I’m nowhere near immersed enough in it all to be an authority. I just know I have heard a truckload of awesome heavy stuff this year.

Chickenhawk’s self titled album is one monstrous slab of brutality filled to the brim with ideas that span thrash, hardcore, metal, and just down right in your face heavy stuff. They even hint on electro on the opening track, this isn’t inductive to the rest of the album mind, but it opens the thing well. That track is called Dude-a-tron and reminds me of Kernkraft 4000 by Zombie Nation but not as annoying and a lot more shouty.

If you want your head to nod until you have whiplash then this is an album for you. But this is no balls to the wall no brain metal album, it is full of passion and intelligence, with a wicked sense of fun.

The rest of the album has some massive riffs; Piglosaur has huge clattering drums like some primal beast as the guitar just tear it all up. At times Chickenhawk remind me of a meatier grunge band but not in a throw back sense, they sound fresh and I doubt they look at their shoes as much. The vocals are just as catchy as the riffs and are sung or screamed in an on edge kind of way or melodically harmonised in other places. Minus Infinity Killswitch brings the mood down with some beautiful yet dark acoustic strumming that gives way to some heavy guitar lines that get you stomping around wanting to smash your head into things. Things just get more messy when the absolutely huge sounding My Name Is Egg comes flying out of the blocks like a rampant freak looking for something with darting eyes and a limp. The hushed vocals add menace and then the riffs come back and some kind of chorus happens that sounds like the fragles gone metal, it’s brilliant. Other highlights include Kerosene, which just sounds so cool and catchy with a huge breakdown that twists and turns then drops back into the chorus. Mandarin Grin is blistering, The Pin makes for a freaked out slow jam that drops into beastly territories in a heartbeat. The closer Bottle Rocket shreds it too…

Chickenhawk RAWK! Hard and do everything you want a heavy band to do; bring the riffs, bring the fun, let loose and unleash some furry with passion so you can just let go and let it consume you.

(released 17/11/08)

http://www.myspace.com/chickenhawk

Seven Nautical Miles – Every Ocean Reversed

Sweden and other Scandinavian countries have a bit of a history of unleashing bands of the heavier end of the spectrum of rock music onto the rest of the world; maybe it’s something in the meatballs? After all meat is kind of metal and so is having balls…

Seven Nautical Miles are pretty heavy in a restrained kind of way, they know when to hold off and when to let loose. They are a kind of post-rock or post-metal band that do the epic quiteLOUDquite thing to great effect.

Each track clocks in at around the eight minuet and up mark and they paint some of the most furious, frazzled and melancholic sounds, that range from blissful melodies and chords to guttural screaming and some massive heavy riffs.

The music is fairly straightforward and stripped back, they take the normal kind of band set up with minimal effects and tomfoolery and out of that shape what can only be described as a primal emotional energy. It’s like they have harnessed a beast and taught him to sing, it’s probably a sea monster as well to fit in with the albums aesthetic and name.

If I listened to more black metal I might compare the vocals to this kind of style, but I don’t yet this sounds exactly like I would imagine it to sound like in my head. In places the screaming is so raw and gruff, like a low growl of a grizzly bear that enjoys a bit of metal on a weekend. At other times the vocals are fairly melodic, with harmonies that sometimes feature the scream and singing all at once.

At times Every Ocean Reversed is a little one passed, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as if you’re in the mood for the long and brooding arrangements then it’s very rewarding and grows on you with every listen.

Seven Nautical Miles are a heavy band that executes their ambitious experimental ideas with a brutal sadness and a doom drenched sludge of guitar riffs. They build tension really well in their compositions and the pay off is no damp squelch in some forgotten sea either.

http://www.myspace.com/sevennauticalmiles