Each year it's about the same, you write the most unbiased as possible year-end list with your fave albums of the last 12 months and little by little in the following days/weeks, there's some freshly discovered stuff that appear to you luminously and give you regrets not to have been included in your poll !!!
Last year I remember that my most important regret had gone to ELDER "dead roots stirring" and this year there's great chances that "Buried in the Gray" from SERIAL HAWK wins this strange price !!! Well, better late than never, I'm completely stoked these days with this 4 songs affair which last about 25 minutes and even if it's been released more than 6 months ago, I'm gonna make it justice now !
SERIAL HAWK is incredibly mature yet, considering the average young age of its three members and its pretty short existence. Loud, heavy and massive as fuck, the band's style evolves constantly between Sludge, Stoner and Doom, depending of the moods they nebulously put you in.
Somber, atmospheric, the band is easy at delivering nice dynamics with fuzzy riffage, creative drumming and a stunning vocal performance, half-boosted / half-contained, always catchy and harmonious.
The tempo is utterly haunting, mid-paced to slowed down, but songs like "Silence Means Nothing" and "My Last Days" introduce some atmospheric drone moments, enhancing the ethereal approach while remaining always very very heavy and crushing.
There's definitely something in the soulful sound of SERIAL HAWK that transcends emotions, I feel it like a special graceful touch which always leaves a little hope in an overall that is basically comprised of dark frustrations... and this I fucking dig :) It didn't happen often this year but I felt like an urgent need to send several questions to this unexpected new discovery which I'm convinced will be one of my fave bands within the next years.
I'm enough old and experienced towards music now to feel that kind of things, just like I did say for example in the first days of last January that the debut album of the absolutely unknown (at that time) In The company of Serpents would be one of my faves of 2012 (and it ended at the 2nd row of my top albums) !
I'm enough old and experienced towards music now to feel that kind of things, just like I did say for example in the first days of last January that the debut album of the absolutely unknown (at that time) In The company of Serpents would be one of my faves of 2012 (and it ended at the 2nd row of my top albums) !
Thanx a lot to Will (guit/voc) to have answered this one in just a couple of hours ! Check out and support SERIAL HAWK, they are THE future of the Seattle's scene for the years to come and believe me this prediction is far more serious than others...;)
Hi Will... as I said in my introduction, it's time to make SERIAL HAWK justice in T.o.P. with this excellent "buried in the gray" ! it seems to have gotten several good reviews when it came out early this summer but not much since then and like me people may have missed it... are you in a 2nd phase of promotion now ? Did you concentrate on "local" affairs in between ?
We always appreciate it when someone takes the time to listen to our music. This is our first EP so being a fairly young band means we're still trying to make sure people hear what we're doing. It's awesome if they hear it right when it comes out, but if they hear about it a little later down the road, that's great too. Either way, we just want to share what we're doing with others. In between we’re usually writing, playing or working.
- You guys seem pretty young but have already a very solid and pretty personal sound, what’s your background ? You present your style as “Heavier than thou stoner metal played at crushing volumes”, was it your guideline when forming the band and starting to compose or did you have an even more precise idea about how you wanted to sound ?
Thanks! The three of us come from pretty different backgrounds both personally and musically, so we didn’t really have any set guidelines when starting out other than to play loud and keep it fairly straight forward, heavy and interesting.
We look up to those guys as well as many other bands in the Pacific Northwest, I really feel grateful to be around such positive, genuine and heartfelt people.
- Who’s speaking about his "last days" ? at first sight, this title song and others don’t seem to breath light and positivism, what are the main topics you like to write about for Serial Hawk ? Does your way of writing your lyrics and their content evolved with newer songs since the EP?
I think that particular song is referencing that if these are our last days, then we should find a way to make the most of them. As far as newer songs, the lyrical content is definitely evolving and expanding, as is the music itself.
- I’m particularly amazed by the way you guys blend that ethereal edge with such heaviness and massiveness, including in your vocals… in this, I think the production work is carefully adapted with a nebulous grain enveloping…. How did you approach this ?
Wow, thank you for saying that! This EP was the first time I recorded vocals, so it was a pretty new experience for me. I wrote most of the lyrics at the last minute, in the van on the way to the studio. I prepared myself mentally, had a few beverages for some additional courage, and then just let it rip. Adam Pike was the engineer that we worked with at Toadhouse Studios in Portland, Oregon and he was very positive and supportive when I was in the booth. In the end we were really happy with how everything came out!
There are a lot of great bands in the area, so it’s an awesome place to be for music, but that being said sometimes it feels like there’s too much! You can go to a show almost every night, bands are always playing, new bands are popping up all the time, old bands are getting better and better, it’s wild.
- I guess you guys have now some new material for an album or so, what’s the plans like at the moment for the 1st full length album ? did some labels take contact ? Do you have any concrete live dates already planed for 2013 ?
We're writing a lot of new music as we speak, and we’re really happy with how things are coming together. We would love to make a record in 2013. We'll be going on tour in March for a couple weeks, so that will be a lot of fun, those dates will be online soon, but beyond pretty much anything goes!
- The EP is actually free for download during a week, a great Christmas present for your new fans but is there still some vynils available ? do you have any T-shirt or other merchandising also available ?
The 12" vinyl EP is still available. Shirts and records can be purchased at http://serialhawk.bigcartel.com
- I’ll let my great mate Steve from The Sludgelord (we spoke together this evening and I know he’ll feature Serial Hawk too with an interview soon in his mighty blog !) ask you shortly other interesting things about you and the band, but add anything important if you wish before ending… thanx Will and all the best to you guys for 2013 !
THANK YOU!
facebook.com/serialhawk
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