Magnetic Eye Records is to sludge metal and desert rawk what Metropolis Records is to Industrial and Roadrunner Records was to groundbreaking metal back in the day meaning when you pick up something with the MER seal of approval you know you’re gettin’ sumthin’ special.
But I digress.
Today we’re talking about Low Flying Hawks and their latest slab of aural excellence entitled Genkaku! Who are Low Flying Hawks, you ask? Well, none other than Dale Crover and Trevor Dunn. Match made in heaven, right? Right! And mystery singers! Who doesn’t love a bit of mystery in their post-rawk/sludge???
Think Neurosis meets CKY’s Volume 1 as there’s these expansive sonic excursions fueled by dreamy vocals, like a fuzzed out dream state in some cases, making each song on Genkaku sound more massive and unique.
“Smile” starts this thing with almost eight and half minutes of everything and the kitchen sink in terms of musicality: slow drones, upbeat jams….and I’m pretty sure Buzz Osborne is on this track as well….yep, it’s Buzzo. The just-released tease said so. I win.
“Uncool” settles into some neat doom accented by Crover’s uncanny hits as the vocals create that aforementioned dream-like atmosphere…well, as dream-like as you can get within the context of heaviness that is this veritable wall of sound that Low Flying Hawks has erected.
“Virgin Witch” is all fuzzy and feedback-y until falling into a nice groove with a Cobain-esque rasp provided by multi-instrumentalists AAL and EHA who also provide the bludgeoning guitar tones that build and build.
“Space Wizard” is almost like an album ender with its’ grandioseness until completely shifting gears and turning into a jam that’d fit perfectly on any melvins record (And it helps that King Buzzo makes an appearance on this tune as well…) as you realize that you’re barely halfway through the beast that is Genkaku.
And the hits keep coming!
“Hallucination” takes a walk on the trippy side, driven by Dunn’s bass magic, while “Twilight” is a gothic riff-ready slab of Type O Negative awesome until transforming into a quirky little ditty before exiting. Closing out the album, “Sinister Waves” harnesses all that special energy that preceded it, shimmying between time signatures and genres, to form the best possible conclusion to a truly colossal album.
Genkaku will be unleashed on August 25th through Magnetic Eye Records. Your copy can be obtained by clicking here or here.
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