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So
much good music being created around the globe it is impossible
to keep up with all of it. It sucks that we only come to know of
a great band like Hey Colossus when they are two, three and even
four recordings deep into their careers. That I come across
bands like this at all, is a chance of luck that I should thank
to someone. Too bad, I am still not sure who I should thank
though.
Anyway, last
week was Black Sun with that amazing recording Paralyser
and this week is the turn of England’s Hey Colossus whose latest
full-length Happy Birthday is a lesson in perfect
tonalities and low bottom battering. For the most part Hey
Colossus’ music is far removed from that of your average doom
metal band. Their songs tend to drone quite a bit and here and
there their music drags in funeral fashion but somehow somewhere
within their deep cavernous low trembles and the deranged
vocals, their tunes manage to groove. The first song “War Crows”
is perfectly placed; it’s the friendliest of the bunch and it
comes driven by a bass sound Scott Reeder would in his best day
envy and is magnified via distorted psychedelic mini chorus
voices. To say, this is the grooviest doom/stoner track I’ve
heard all year would be a disservice to the talents of this
gloomy bunch.
Happy Birthday
becomes more difficult as we get further into it. The bass sound
remains thick and stellar but the songs lose uniformity,
adopting a more amorphous and experimental angle. The vocals are
deranged throughout; it’s one of the most solid consistencies of
the record. They are buried amidst the fattest of sounds,
underneath the thickest of tonalities, they are desperate
screams constantly figuring out their topic of choice. “Fire Up
the Tambourine” sounds like drowning, the invading feedback-like
noise sweeps the song awashed but the steady drumbeat and the
congruency of the guitar riff make this beauty the second most
accessible piece.
This South
London sextet demands to be heard. I urge you to check this band
out. I confess, I went hunting illegally through their past
material and was unable to find any of their several 7”s and
full-lengths. I feel now forced to buy it through a reliable
retailer. Hey Colossus has been together at least since 2003
(their oldest release dates to January 2004) and fans of mammoth
sounds have a new mamma to come weep to. Highly recommended.
Official Site
MySpace
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