I am convinced that heavy British music has never been in a better state than it is right now. There are riffs flying at breakneck speed from all angles, with such excellent bands as Turbowolf, The James Cleaver Quintet and Exit_International all putting out thrilling and exciting music as well as putting on truly intense live shows. Ideas is either the first full album by Hawk Eyes, their first 'Modern Bodies', was technically put out under the name Chickenhawk. Not that this matters one measly bit, because Ideas is quite simply an astounding record.
The album begins with Witch Hunt, which in places embraces Mastodon levels of heaviness, with angular, complex riffing and absolutely pounding drums. It is with this opening track that you begin to get the feeling that Ideas might just be one of those albums you can call a 'game changer'. It is unbelievably heavy, but also genuinely anthemic.
As is recent single Skyspinners, which blasts off before you can even catch your breath from Witch Hunt. If you are new to Hawk Eyes, this song is just as good an introduction as any. Skyspinners' chorus is absolutely glorious, in a dark, horrible way. This is how loud music should be done. Two songs in and your blood is pumping madly. Well, either that or you're dead.
After Modern Bodies, the doctor told Hawk Eyes' singer Paul Astick that it would probably be a wise move to tone down his aggressive vocal style, and where there are some noticeably less unhinged vocal performances (Headstrung, mainly), there is also a lot of stuff on Ideas which makes their debut album sound tame in comparison. The chief culprits of this are the wonderfully dissonant Yes, Have Some, and the berserk noise rock of Milk Hog which - in all honesty - makes anything sound tame.
Put simply, Ideas is an album that shows that Hawk Eyes have gone away, refined their sound, grown up a bit and honed their craft to a tee. It is an album that raises the bar for other bands of their ilk considerably, and blows all expectations out of the water. Hawk Eyes are a ridiculously out there band, and this is the perfect album to demonstrate that to the world.
Ben Walton
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