Gone are Chickenhawk and in their wake we have been given Hawk Eyes. Same band, same bombastic sound, same relentless guitar riffery.
‘Mindhammers’ is the band’s new EP that reminds us nothing has changed except the name. Opening track ‘Crack Another One’ hits hard and never gives up exposing us to Paul Astick’s terse and melodic vocals that scream “Is this a resurection?”. We don’t need to be convinced however, by the time the chorus arrives in all its epic glory we are totally hooked and reminded why Hawk Eyes have always been a band to be reckoned with.
Not lost either is Hawk Eyes’ ability to deal deftly with dynamics. The collection of songs ebb and flow, rise and fall, crash and caress all the while delivering intelligent, hard rock that hits, bites and leaves a mark. ‘Eleven Years’ is a departure from the onslaught of sound that reverberates through the first half of the EP and instead shows us a textured side to the band. Glittering harmonies and a chorus that wouldn’t be out of place on an early Puddle Of Mudd record culminate in a skewed, painful guitar line that reminds us not to get too comfortable with the change of pace and prepares us for what is to come.
When the EP’s closing track ‘Hidden Hound’ finally comes around then we are ready, or so we think. Crashing through the wall of sound with a vocal line Chino Moreno himself would be proud of, Astick and the rest of Hawk Eyes take us by surprise and the off-kilter tempo and pace of the song again cements the band’s unique delivery that so many other groups saturating the market forget to maintain or even live up to.
This short collection of songs attacks the senses and is aptly named. A collision of noise that constantly pounds and pulls on our perception of metal and rock and changes it for the better, ‘Mindhammers’ is an EP that gives us a taste of what to expect from Hawk Eyes in the future and in the old fashioned, traditional sense, leaves us wanting more.
For more information visit the official Hawk Eyes website.
