Heavy rock band the Hyena Kill release their new E.P. Atomised dealing with love and loss, rejection and vengeance, desperation and dream.
By Jane Howkins.
The Hyena Kill recently released their new E.P. Atomised, and what a record it is! For those not in the know, the Manchester band play a brand of heavy rock music that packs hard riffs and ferocious screams together alongside melodic choruses, helped along by the versatile vocal stylings of lead singer Steven Dobb.
They’re certainly a loud band, which is impressive considering that the Hyena Kill are just a duo, featuring the aforementioned Steven Dobb on lead vocals and guitar alongside Lorna Blundell on the drums. There have been a few duos recently that have made waves (punk-rockers Slaves come to mind), and Atomised looks set to push the Hyena Kill in the same direction. The music here is interesting and experimental, with something different to be heard on each track. When opening song Crosses crashes into being, demonic sounding riffs bring the listener to attention straight away, before heading into a melodic (yet no less powerful) sounding chorus.
Halfway through the E.P., song The Waiting Room does something completely different, with beautiful arpeggios and solitary guitar notes being played alongside ethereal vocals of drummer Lorna. It’s very different to what one would normally expect from the band and is a nice change of pace, performing the job of an interlude nicely. Whilst unexpected, it starts to make a little more sense when looking at the band’s list of influences. They’re influenced by all the usual suspects, but also list eccentric singer-songwriter Tori Amos as an influence, and that can definitely be heard here, especially on The Waiting Game.
Deftones are also a major influence, especially for Dobb, and they’re the group that the Hyena Kill would probably be most aligned with musically. Some of Dobb’s vocal delivery is quite similar to that of Chino Moreno and the downtuned guitars are also reminiscent of the band, but that’s not a bad thing. The Hyena Kill are still very much themselves, and whilst similar to Deftones, Atomised is still good enough to stand alone and worth a purchase for anyone into the heavier side of rock music.
Atomised is available now.