There cannot be many bands out there who can claim to be
associated with as many genre descriptions as
Chicago,
Illinois' Huntsmen,
Marc Stranger-Najjar (bass/vocals
); Ray
Knipe (drums);
Kirill Orlov (guitars);
Chris Kang
(guitars/vocals) and
Aimee Bueno (vocals). In
Desert
Psychlist's research we have seen
their music described as
a post-metal,
progressive sludge,
metallic
Americana,
doom and even
blackened folk metal and as strange
as it might seem none of those descriptions are that wide of the mark, yet at
the same time none are truly representative of the music this band make
together.
Huntsmen have, since day one of
their existence, strived to make music that cannot be conveniently placed in a
box or be given a label, a typical
Huntsmen
song (if such a thing exists) is one that can one minute be skirting around the
edges of metallic extremism and the next be dipping its toes in rural and
tranquil backwaters. The band’s latest album, "
The
Dry Land" (
Prosthetic Records), continues along much the same
convoluted and diverse musical paths its excellent full length predecessor, "
Mandala of Fear" did, with fey and lilting passages of serenity vying for
attention with passages of brutal intensity and prog(ish) complexity, only this
time upgraded and with added levels.
Furious drumming and slightly blackened post-metal
flavoured riffage introduces first track "This,
Our Gospel" which is then replaced by a slightly less
aggressive and sedate prog(ish) groove over which clean harmonies hold
sway, the dominance of those harmonies being shared evenly between the three
participants except in the songs slightly hazy and psychedelic mid-section
where Bueno's fey and lilting tones
become the main focus. "Cruelly Dawns"
follows its ringing guitar motifs heralding in vocal trade-offs reminiscent of
early British folk music
before things start to move in a more prog -like direction and things
get intricate and complex with jig and reel like guitar motifs vying for space
with convoluted chord progressions and driving, almost mechanical, rhythms. The
acoustic guitars come out for "Lean Times"
the song boasting a 90's Americana meets 70's West Coast feel in
its initial stages but then moving towards a more torch-like dynamic in its
final moments. Gnarly thrumming sludge -like guitar tones growling bass and
thunderous drums are the dynamics used to interrupt passages of swooning folk
tinted prog on next track "In Time, All
Things" while "Rain"
sees Huntsmen becoming bluesmen, albeit
bluesmen with a penchant for mixing sweeping clean vocal leads and harmonies
with throat tearing harshness. Finally, we arrive at "Herbsight" a stunning opus that ties together
all the various musical threads that makes up Huntsmen's
sound and weaves them into one song, complex prog, textured post-metal,
shades of Americana and folk all sharing the same space with
elements sitting at the more extreme ends of the metal spectrum, an astounding
finale to an outstanding album.
Huntsmen are a totally
unique and totally original band, you cannot point a finger at these guys and
accuse them of jumping on bandwagons or following trends as they are their own
bandwagon, their own trend. In an ideal world an album as exciting and as vital
as "The Dry Land" would be
deservedly nominated for a Grammy or a Mercury Music Prize, unfortunately we do not
live in an ideal world so until there is a shift in musical values Huntsmen are just going to have to settle for old
hacks like Desert Psychlist, and
others like us, to sing their praises.
Check 'em out ....
© 2024 Frazer Jones
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