3 out of 5

Label: Sixwix

Produced by: ?

A giant, thick slab of pulsating bass upon which Haunted Horses hangs its nigh-minimalist hardcore stomp rather makes clear why the band self describes as industrial; the four tracks of Severed Circle make great use of that foundation to evoke some pretty bleak and doomy feelings, with the album title a good summary of the kind of enclosed, claustrophobic panic of the music – but then also its furious push against its borders, perhaps making a chink in the encircling prison wall.

The punk meets industrial vibe does merit the Killing Joke influence the group cites, but I think some modern touchpoints are FACS – the bare drumming and instrumentation that’s nonetheless very pressing and weighty, not to mention the flat vocal affectation – and Daughters’ You Won’t Get What You Want is heard in the way Cypress or Dead Meat occasionally burst off of the songs’ rails.

This is all good stuff.

But it’s also not enough of an example of where Haunted Horses can add to this style. Both A-side tracks have a very similar pace and base sound; Desert in a Room pushes more for atmosphere and Cypress more for intensity, but neither one pushes so far as to make the songs more than intriguing. Wickle breaks the established formula a bit by being punkier, though is limited by a too-short runtime. Closer Dead Meat’s nervy instrumental again goes for atmosphere, a bit rawer and more direct than Desert, but here it’s a 5-minute promise of something that never quite arrives – an instrumental that would work great mid-album, but kind of stalls as a closer.

Severed Circle is a cool-ass set of very moody music, and Haunted Horses walks away with an identity – a pretty identifiable sound. That’s a sum-greater-than-its-parts achievement, though: the four tunes here are strong, just not quite anything enough to make for repeatable singles.