KAYO DOT — Hubardo (review)

KAYO DOT — Hubardo album cover Album · 2013 · Avant-garde Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
bartosso
A lonely Poet and the Eye of Leviathan

Are you proud of yourself, Toby Driver? Are you satisfied with having me as your eternal and devoted follower, speechless in the face of Hubardo's grandeur? If these questions were ever to reach Toby, I imagine the answer to them as follows: "Yes, we did it, we have transmuted the gleaming stone that fell from the moonless sky. Essence and forms blossomed beautifully from the eye of Leviathan and merged into this ever morphing sculpture of sounds. You can almost see it once you close your eyes, open your heart and let the ear follow the chisel."

In a way, Hubardo encompasses everything that Toby Driver has ever done with maudlin of the Well, Kayo Dot and Tartar Lamb, but in fact it is so much more. It's an individual, conceptual work and while it obviously sounds like something made by Kayo Dot, it is more adventurous, dense and technical than anything they've done before. To be completely honest, it's barely possible to describe an album with a total playing time of almost 100 minutes, one that flows like a poem and stirs the soul with a whole range of emotions. A record that stupefies with passionate outbursts of experimental extremity, seamlessly evolving into haunting chamber rock passages or krautrock psychedelia. I can't even fathom out how avant-garde jazz-fusion, chamber post-rock, experimental black metal and psychedelic rock can be so beautifully blended together and approached with so much individuality. More than that, Hubardo reaches and goes beyond any horizons; it crushes boundaries and escapes any classification except for one: Art that comes to existence out of pure need of creation itself; need to channel the ephemeral creative fire into an immortal work. And, as if that weren't enough, the album boasts some of the most intriguing ambiance and concept I've ever encountered. Ah, so much could be said about this surreal, otherworldly atmosphere and the creative freedom of its makers. A freedom so spontaneous, despite the staggering complexity of the music it gave birth to.

I know I'm freaking out and I feel no shame. Hubardo, the seventh album by the avant-chamber-rock/experimental metal band Kayo Dot, is the ultimate proof that music knows no boundaries. It's so singular and passion driven, that any attempt to analyze and deconstruct it backfires on the reviewer. Even though you may stay indifferent to the beauty of Hubardo, you can't deny the sheer compositional prowess of Kayo Dot. As far as I am concerned, my love for this album is so profound, that I feel ashamed by the very fact of publishing this review. A review that will never do Hubardo enough justice.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Avenge the Fallen Power Metal
HAMMERFALL
Buy this album from MMA partners
Zenith Power Metal
STORMBORN
Buy this album from MMA partners
World on Fire Power Metal
MILLENNIAL REIGN
Buy this album from MMA partners
Kaosmogonia Symphonic Metal
HYPERSONIC
Buy this album from MMA partners
Live In Riverside Melodic Metalcore
ICE NINE KILLS
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

SETYØURSAILS - Bad Company (Official Video) | Napalm Records
SETYØURSAILS
Bosh66· 1 day ago
SETYØURSAILS - Lately (Official Video) | Napalm Records
SETYØURSAILS
Bosh66· 1 day ago
SETYØURSAILS - Bad Blood (feat. Adrian Estrella) (Official Video) | Napalm Records
SETYØURSAILS
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper - Shallow (Metal Cover by SETYØURSAILS feat. Mike Perez)
SETYØURSAILS
Bosh66· 1 day ago
SETYØURSAILS - Best Of Me (Official Video) | Napalm Records
SETYØURSAILS
Bosh66· 1 day ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed