Hunab Ku – The Gaze Inward

Posted by POWERWHEELS on June 20th, 2008 filed in Technical Metal

Hunab Ku at Myspace

Where do I begin?  This album is spaz-tastic from start to finish.  These boys cover a broad spectrum of avant-garde and technical metal.  The album starts out stressing their evil carnival sound, recalling Dog Fashion Disco and Mr. Bungle.  After the organ disappears from the mix, you’re left with one brutal treble-y guitar that weaves in and out of barely decipherable rhythms.  The vocalist really does the Mike Patton thing well, which I can’t say I like that much, but he switches styles often enough, sometimes sounding like the Deftones or the Red Chord, that it doesn’t get stale.

If the frantic circus riffs aren’t your thing, there are a few other treats buried here and there.  My favorite track is the two-minute droning “Midnight Assassin”, which despite having so few notes, is so brutal that I’m worried the guitarist will stab out my eardrums with a guitar-pick shiv.  Sure, the crazy rhythms and harmonies on the rest of the album are great, but this short little song shows that these guys can be as brutal with a few notes and a howl as they are with all guns blazing.  If anything, this band knows how to pace itself, letting you relax just long enough that their attack hits you 10x as hard when it arrives.

RIYL: Swarm of the Lotus, Dillinger Escape Plan, Car Bomb, Dog Fashion Disco