Kev Rowland

The very first thing that one notices about this 2009 self-release, is that it is incredibly professional in every way. The artwork is superb, it comes in a high-quality case, and the booklet contains not only all the lyrics but also some wonderful emotive photography. Although their debut album, ‘The Lynch-Lawyers’, was determined to be the best metal release of 2006, the relationship with their label had broken down so they decided to put this out on their own. And what an amazing job they done with it as well: I was looking forward to this even before I had put it on the player! I have seen them likened to Fear Factory, but that isn’t fair to either band. What we have here is death metal, but with as much of a sludge element as there is electronic, with a down-tuned element that also brings then solidly into the realm of bands like Slipknot while in other areas they are definitely channelling Type O Negative.

It is slower than many of the death metal bands around, but that does nothing to stem the ferocity and attack: this is brutal stuff, from beginning to end. The keyboards occasionally add some light, but what they are actually doing is highlighting the sledgehammer attack of the rest of the band. It is unrelenting, and even when they go off on a tangent such as on “Aviphobic Fluid State” where there is the use of an electric violin and some samples, it just adds to the overall impact. In some ways, this is quite simple, yet others incredibly complex. It is an album for those who want their music to grab them firmly by the balls and not release.

I find it hard to believe that this band hasn’t been more recognised outside their own country. This release plus others, including their latest, ‘Synthetic Forms’ are all available through Bandcamp, and I highly recommend these guys to anyone who loves their metal to be brutal yet refined, chaotic yet firmly controlled, and always of the very highest order. https://horricane.bandcamp.com.