EP REVIEW
HONDO MACLEAN
1.
LOLA'S
PICTURES
Length: 18:00 (min:secs)
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Hot on the heals of their debut “Plans For A Better Day” EP, Welsh metal maestros Hondo Maclean hit us with four new songs, again released on Mighty Atom Records but this time benefiting hugely with stunning production by Joe Gibb. With a sound that’s somewhere between label-mates Funeral For A Friend and the inspirational and furiously heavy Johnny Truant, they take the now popular emocore concept so much further than any of their compatriots. It’s all about balance and that is where this band excels so well - managing the perfect mix of heavy versus melody (with capital HEAVY and lowercase melody), as well as including an amazing amount of detail and character giving tremendous depth - they simply strike an excellent balance. Melody has proven to be an important key to attaining wider acceptability and they have crowd pleasing amounts of this quality but manage to attain it without coming anywhere close to the banal pop-rock arena that many lunge for. Indeed they have incredible quantities of heaviness, aggression and intensity that blow almost the entire current crop of more straight forward metal/hardcore bands into the dust. And there is more - those sweet twin lead guitars that sometimes remind you of Thin Lizzy and at others times of Iron Maiden - the harmonies sound beautiful and creates a sound to die for. Then the vocals range from the immaculately sung melodies, through intense screamo and to the most evil, demonic, death style growls. Each is used to great effect at times where they complement the music perfectly, adding to the aggression, the respite melody or the atmosphere as required. All four songs reek of class and it is somewhat unfair to highlight one above another, but marginally “Don't Forget To Feed The Fish” comes out as a personal favourite. It’s an awesome song that takes the entire range of sounds, from the delicate gentle moments to the colossally heavy with great chugging riffs and lovely timing changes instrumented by a tempo that is anything but straight forward. This is an awesome EP that follows on admirably from their debut, showing a natural progression and maturity that belies their experience. Hondo Maclean take you on a ride of hair singeing intensity but drive with exemplary skills and show you some beautiful sites - it’s only afterwards they tell you there were no brakes! It’s an irresistible combination and you just can’t wait for another blast.
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- Rigsby (9th
November, 2003) |
