Until the end of the 2011, this band were known as Chickenhawk - a post hardcore quartet from Leeds who toured with Alexisonfire and We Are The Ocean and played the Reading Festival in 2009.
After the name change, lead singer Paul Astick was advised by his doctor to tone down his highly-strung vocals to avoid doing permanent damage.
Having released one of the most critically lauded albums within rock’s great sphere last year, Hawk Eyes are ready to sate the public’s appetite for riffs with new EP ‘That’s What This Is’. They will release the four-pronged rock assault on 19th August, just before they play on the Rock stage at Reading and Leeds festivals – their second year in a row performing at the festival.
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We had an early listen to That’s What This Is’. Here’s what we thought:
Title track ‘That’s What This Is’ is a slab of concrete oblivion. Reinforced by some amazing percussion by Steve Wilson (the former drummer of Japanese Voyeurs / Dinosaur Pile-Up) and some super fast response vocals. It’s a masterpiece of steam modulated thermals – and intense imagery. And it’s horrifying too. Like watching a hundred souls dying alone. The super-charged thermodynamic energy of this piece is astonishing. It opens with a head-splitting, pulsating beat and those abruptly pithy vocals of Paul Astick (guitar and lead vocals.) The growing chorus is full of uncontrolled power and crying salivation. It’s like a criss-crossing barrage of fire-spears that would keep even the golden horde at bay. Magnificent.
‘Never Never, Just Not Now’ has a grass-hopping rhythm and a gaseous feel to it. It is nitrous and hot. Then ‘Cheap’ cranks into your sound system on full-auto. It’s already been chosen by Radio 1 Rock Show’s Daniel P Carter as his ‘Track of The Week’. The riff on this will send a shiver down your spine, and will arrow you to the spot. The vocals are fat and warm. Like falling head-first into a vat of hot wax. The lyrics are insightful and plentiful. They weep out against some log-splitting bass-work from Ryan Clark and more acidic guitar-play from Paul and Robert Stephens.
The EP concludes with ‘More Than a Million’ and the free recoil of rubbery bass fighting against coils of armour-plated guitar. The harsh vocals – never expending energy unnecessarily - are hollered out. The momentum of this piece is relentless. The sounds build themselves up like gases in a muzzle – to exhaust in one dynamic expulsion of short-tempered intensity right at the end. It’s inflamed and excruciatingly passionate.
- © Neil_Mach July 2013 -
Link:
https://www.facebook.com/HawkEyesMusic
Forthcoming live dates -
August 9th – Wakefield, The Hop
August 10th – Boardmasters, Newquay
August 13th – System Of A Down Support – Lodz, Poland
August 15th – Pukklepop Belgium
August 16th – Beta, Copenhagen.
August 17th – Highfield Festival
August 21st – System Of A Down Support – Amsterdam, Holland
August 23rd – Leeds Festival
August 25th – Reading Festival
October 12th – Haddow Festival Edinburgh
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
