3 out of 5

Produced by: Robert Cheek

Label: Three One G

On their second outing as a trio, Haunted Horses logically keep expanding on their industrial, hardcore minimalism, balancing their elements of melody and monotone, and juggling the various inputs of metallic ambience, hellish vocals, and grinding basslines. However, that “expanding” has come at the cost of some impact: edges of Dweller sound somewhat smoothed as the levels of everything are arranged to allow them to shine; what once came across as carved from stone is now quite produced. This doesn’t have to be a bad thing, as it definitely allows for an expanded palette: it’s fair to say that the initial template of drummer Myke Pelly and soundster / vocalist Colin Dawson made for a terrifying, but perhaps limited presentation of pounding drums, razor guitars that marched and then exploded, and singing that varied between doomy speak-singing and hardcore howls; bassist Brian McClelland gave The Worst Has Finally Happened the push the band needed to really get their hooks in and evolve, iterating on Alternative Tentacles post-punk roots and Swans-y brutality to somehow both modernize and strip down their approach into something even more menacing than before. But: perhaps McClelland was just adding another layer to that approach, as opposed to making it into something new. Dweller is that newness, but it’s a half-step: with ambience sounding programmed, the industrial edge has a more 80s vibe to it – it’s a bit, like, dancey at points – and the mix is very weird, being almost turn-your-speakers-down loud but not defined at the same time. It’s an attempt to give everyone a part to play and make all those parts of equal importance, whereas I’d say the previous m.o. let things stew so that the overall vibe is what made an impression.

These things are group efforts, of course: reteaming with producer Robert Cheek, it makes sense that the group would have some synergy, and want to work toward this focus on song / composition equally to mood; Dweller’s tracks are arguably more varied. Giving more of a spotlight to, for example, the vocals, though, lets us, er, dwell on the lyrics, which unfortunately are mostly sensory – the lyric sheet is kinda grindcore / doom metal standard everything-is-death; similarly, I found myself sitting with different aspects of the composition, and hearing where songs were maybe “wanting” to break out but instead veered back for another verse. There’s a definite path forward for HH, however, as the album’s B-side has two fantastic examples of the group taking advantage of the expanded toolbox to deepen their menace, peaking in the breathless death dive of The Seed, which is also where Dawson’s repeated mantras gain weight alongside the music’s monstrousness.

Dweller is maturity for the band, but it’s restless; but I take that as all the better indication of what will come next.