5 out of 5

Label: Acerbic Noise Development

Producer: John Golden (mastering)

So Hematovore: From whence did they come, and where the duff did they go.  I have an album after this that’s madly disappointing, I have some albums before this that are good but done up in a totally different direction.  I dunno what happened here, if this was their big break – John Golden’s a name, having mastered about a billion things from all different walks of the music world, and Aaron Turner did the (of course) notable art – but whatever the reason or non-reasons, ‘Untitled’ rocks every dick on the planet off, almost unsuspectingly.  It is one of the best instrumental rock albums I own on several levels, and despite the production not being as punchy as it could be, it still manages to rock through your speakers thanks to smart sequencing, unbelievable (and interesting) interplay of dual guitars, bass, and drums, and songs that shift just enough to let you headbang and tap your toe until you need a new beat.

I suppose you could say that any long player has the difficulty of trying to vary things from song to song, and yes, ’tis true, but groups that keep it basic just have to have the songs.  When you have vocals and decide to go instrumental for a track, ooh, it’s a break in the style.  Or you’re “growing” as an artist and you toss a theremin in there.  Neat.  Some no-singy groups stick to a particular style – slow and moody, for example – so when they throw a fast track in there, it’s an eye opener.  But just as there are handfuls of bands that fit those molds, there are certainly plenty of Hematovore-style bands: instrumental metal that prides itself on shifting time signatures and stop/start dynamics and quiet to loud stuff.  So change is part of the game.

Keelhaul came to mind while listening to ‘Untitled’, just ’cause both groups seem to have the same mastery of being technical wizards who can switch up fast-to-sl0w-to-wtf in seconds and pull it off without a hitch.  One key difference on this album from most KH releases, though, is that the ‘Haul tends to pull out their big guns right away, so your ears are used to the tricks after a couple tracks, then tired by album’s end.  Hemat deliver a legit rock with opener Witherspoon, Pt. 2 – and do not mistake this as an intro track, your eyes have already bugged out by the energy delivered here – but they wait to fuck your socks off with the UNBELIEVABLY INSANE ‘Blasting Through the Back Nine’ on track two, which stands equal with my response to hearing These Arms Are Snakes’ ‘Mescaline Eyes’ solo bit for the first time.  Like… how do human beings play this?  Jesus christ.  Only here it’s everyone – guitarists, drummer, bassist – and it’s just balanced out, man, it’s not fuckers just wanking like some Lightning Bolt shit, the songs are paced to make these payoffs matter.  This trend continues for 40ish minutes or whatever, bounding back and forth between sweet 3-4 minute tracks and longer, swaying-er 8 minute tracks.

As mentioned, the production is sort of flat, so it’s definitely a headphone listen.  And you’ll be tempted to think of a lot of references when the album starts playing – Breadwinner, some Don Cab, Dysrhytmia – but there’s a bit of consistency to the compositions and willingness to let it rock that, well maybe it can’t stand up to some of those artist’s BEST moments, but it certainly produces a five star duffing album that’s good for repeated spins.