Wednesday 27 January 2016

Hag - "Fear of Man" (Album Review)

By: Charlie Butler
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 08/01/2016
Label: DNAWOT



The title track opens proceedings with a succinct distillation of Hag’s sound. The band take their weighty brand of Melvins-indebted stoner rock and blur the edges with a shot of blown-out psychedelia. If the idea of latter day Kylesa covering “Houdini” sounds like your idea of fun, this is a record for you.  This is a great collection from Hag which should earn them a formidable reputation as exponents of high quality riffcraft


“Fear of Man” DD//LP track listing:

1). Fear of Man
2). Kingdom O
3). Rainbow Dust
4). Trauma Yauma
5). Low
6). Metal Detector Man
7). White Lion
8). Beaten At Your Own Game
9). Wrong Bar

The Review:

Sometimes the best things come to those who wait, and in this case those things are riffs. “Fear of Man” is the debut album from London trio, Hag following a 6 year gap after the release of their debut EP. Anyone who has been waiting is not going to be disappointed as the 9 tracks here make a solid case for elevating the band to the upper echelons of the UK’s heaviest.
The title track opens proceedings with a succinct distillation of Hag’s sound. The band take their weighty brand of Melvins-indebted stoner rock and blur the edges with a shot of blown-out psychedelia. If the idea of latter day Kylesa covering “Houdini” sounds like your idea of fun, this is a record for you.
The highlights of “Fear of Man” come when Hag stretch their songs out past the 5 minute mark. “Rainbow Dust” begins with a huge, sweeping, slide-enhanced riff, evoking a widescreen, dustbowl panorama. The band alternate between this sound and restless, noise rock, crafting a captivating, epic desert voyage. “Trauma Yauma” opens with Hag at their most aggressive, frantic drums pummel the listener before the band calm into a nagging, insistent, one-note groove. This eventually erupts into a searing acid-drenched solo, showing what Hag are capable of when they cut loose and reach for the skies.
This is a great collection from Hag which should earn them a formidable reputation as exponents of high quality riffcraft. “Fear of Man” is currently only available digitally via bandcamp but hopefully a vinyl release is on the way, it would be great to see the awesome cover art on a 12” if nothing else.

“Fear of Man” is available here, with vinyl due imminently

Band info: Facebook | Bandcamp