| CD REVIEW Hangover |
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Band : Hangover Hum, when I went to check about this Millennium Metal band, I found there's two acts by the same name, but slightly differently written. First, you have the German Crossover/ Heavy Metal act HangOver (see the finesse?) which, having been formed in 2002, should still be active. To date, they have only self-released the 2005 full-length Shit Happens. Second band's name is written Hangöver, was formed in 1995, pays a Black/ thrash hybrid, and hails from Poland. They released demos in 2000 and 2002, self-released a split EP with G.M.C. in 2004, contributed to the 4-way split EP Thrash Metal Blitzkrieg on Deathstrike Records in 2005, and eventually released the 2006 GG Allin covers EP Under The Influence through Stuka Sound. But THIS band is from Olbia, Italy (more precisely, Olbia is a town in the North-East of the Sardegna island), and the reason why most of us haven't heard anything from them before, is because they've only been around since mid 2009. With main inspiration sources being Pantera, Killswitch Engage and Old School Thrash Metal bands, the band made their own twist to the genre by introducing clean female vocals on top of the male screams. This definitely gives the band (currently that's female singer Lorena Pinna, male singer Angelo Serreri, guitarists Ilario Mulas (lead) & Matteo Columbano, plus drummer Riccardo Melosu – looks like bassist Lorenzo Agus has recently ousted (or been ousted) the band, as he's not mentioned in the line-up mentioned in the line-up at the band's facebook page) a face all its own...but I cannot say I was enthoused that much at a first listen. But then came the album closing “acoustic” version (there's still sóme electrics goin' on, in the background), of the track “My Best Day” (which is a vocal solo for Lorena) and I started listening to this mini album (with only 7 tracks plus intro for a total length just under 30 minutes, I feel compelled to use that term) all over again to discover the nice complexities in the instrumental passages of the music. I'm still not quite convinced of the vocal mix, but I'm sure that with repeated listening sessions (something I cannot afford at the moment, as I'm trying to push through 4 reviews in one day) I could get used to it. Maybe you should have a listen first too, and therefore the band posted two songs off the mini-album at (www.) myspace.com/hangoverolbia. Check it out, then check if the album's got a page on one of the trusted online sales sites. They usually provide 30-second samples of all songs, and I swear that it's worth the trouble trying to get a whiff of that acoustic track! 89/100 Tony. |
