Tarantula Hawk — s/t
It’s not easy to find info on Tarantula Hawk. All I know is that two of them (TH is a threesome) used to play at some stage in The Locust and that they are living in San Diego, California. Their debut album (called Tarantula Hawk, just like this one...) featured just one 40-minutes long track. Their second album boasts five track but should be played as just one long track.
Musically, those lads draw influences from about everything. Prog rock, psychedelia, black metal, ambient, drone music, doom, math rock... You name it, you got it. The album begins with very dark, ambient keys before transforming into a more metallic, keyboard driven version of Japanese superheroes Ruins. The bass sound is heavy as fuck (Joe Preston anyone?), the drummer plays a lot on his cymbals and add here and there some good old blastbeats. Tarantula Hawk shares with Post-Rock a liking for mood-building. Switching from one pace to another, from slow ambient parts to more energetic metal riffing, there is always something happening.
If I had to name bands, here is what I would do (and do): I’d say take Ruins math side, Pink Floyd psychedelia, GY!BE progressive “song” structures, some Emperor kind of riffs, add some Black Sabbath for the heaviness, Neurosis for the daring aspect and then, as a finishing touch, a bit of Lustmord's darkness. Put all those ingredients in a mixer, shake and then pour in your ears at maximum volume. The best of crushing lies ahead... The originality of Tarantula Hawk is to mix all this together, their quality is having it sounding good. For not only do they remind me of truly exciting bands, they do it without directly echoing what others did before. By their excellent musicianship and great writing skills, they manage to transcend all their influences (or what seems to be influences) in order to create a unique sound..
Epitomising Tarantula Hawk is the 5th song on the album, 49 minutes and forty seconds long... At first, very dark ambient soundscapes, with a few sounds of guitars and other weird noises. Then, a really loud, heavy and slow moment followed by another long spooky bit with guitars, really sounding like an ambient version of Khanate. To finish you off, 29 minutes of feedback / drone. That song alone could have been the only stuff on the album. But the other songs are all excellent too, just a tad more melodic yet never giving up to the bright side...
If the Boredoms were metal, they would be Tarantula Hawk. If GY!BE were metal, they would be Tarantula Hawk. This is dark, ugly, threatening and beautiful at the same time. Should be enough...