Friday, April 10, 2009

HATCHET DAWN: Faith in Chaos


Produced by Howsie
Released: April 14

Recorded a year and a half ago with almost a completely different line-up, "Faith in Chaos" is the first release by a Melbourne band called Hatchet Dawn, who mix up a couple of normally rather disparate styles to create a truly unclassifiable din.

In its broadest sense, "Faith in Chaos" is something like Crowbar going up against Strapping Young Lad. A murky sludge undercurrent runs beneath Townsend-style blitzkrieg riffs with vocals that run a gamut of intense "core"-ish screams and a deep, gravelly croak like Anselmo on Down's NOLA album. It's a pretty intriguing blend and it doesn't always come off. The first two songs are so alike it's difficult to tell when one ends and the next begins, but this is a CD that gets better as it goes on. The creeping, mournful Down-like "Red Memoirs" bridges the samey-sounding chaos of the first half and the more interesting second. "The Serpent Order" is the stand-out track on here, the one that best defines their intentions and the one rightly chosen to turn into a video, which is included as a bonus track. If Devin Townsend and Kirk Windstein got jamming together, something like "The Serpent Order" could well be the result. "Perfect Parasite" is much looser, a darker, brooding track with an almost Neurosis vibe weaving through it.

With "Faith in Chaos", Hatchet Dawn has done some pretty good work, even if their obvious influences still overshadow their pretentions of originality, and show themselves to be something to keep an eye out for.

  1. Demon
  2. Consuming Creation
  3. Red Memoirs
  4. The Serpent Order
  5. Perfect Paradise
Rating: 73%

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