History of the Hawk

Début album "Future Ruins" out now via In At The Deep End Records. You can get it for a £5 (postage paid if you live in the UK) from www.iatde.com - - - Stuff people said about us - - - Rocksound "Future Ruins" 8/10 If you can somehow envisage being thrown from a car window and straight into a jet engine, you've managed to grasp the unpredictable ferocity that a History Of The Hawk listening experience provides, Their overall sound may be truly confusing amalgamation of various sub-genres, but it's a combination that proves bizarrely fruitful as it fearlessly guides the listener through wholly unverving terrain, constantly leaving you on edge via a mixture of fearless experimentation and extremely wellhoned hardcore sensibilities, Exposively jagged and consistently thrilling throughout, 'Future Ruins' is an absolute juggernaut of relentless sonic terror. Big Cheese "Future Ruins" 4/5 Pleasingly intense angular noise on this midland outfit's debut. Sometimes it feels like there are all too few UK bands willing to eschew melodic hooks and instead make their play for wider recognition with a more uncompromising sound, But the West Midlands outfit set their stall out from the off with the short, sharp blast of 'Descending Light', and there's little let up from there on in - with the exception of the expansive 'Terraforming', which anchors the aural abrasiveness surrounding it in impressive style. With hints of the frenzied assault of Converge, the off-kilter stylings of Fugazi and the ballsy punk rock of Gallows, this is an invigorating, intriguing album. Nick Mann Terrorizer "Future Ruins" 4/5 Black Country noise mongers History Of The Hawk are the latest addition to In At The Deep End, the label responsible for championing the likes of Architects and Beecher, so it should come as no surprise to hear that HOTH are a mixing pot of frantic discordant riffs and hardcore swagger. The debut album from the five piece is, in places, reminiscent of The Dillinger Escape Plan but with a more reserved British charm. It's one hell of a lesson though; HOTH speed through 15 tracks in double quick time, without a blink's space in the rushing whirlpool of intensity. 'Future Ruins' is an extravaganza that'll leave you with both ears ringing and an unquenchable thirst for more. - John Consterdine Mass Movement "Future Ruins" review "Forget about the story of a mechanical eagle which supposedly landed on the moon in 1969. 2012 is the year of the Hawk. Damn, how intense can one band be? ‘Future Ruins’ is the band’s first full length, released shortly after their EP, ‘Ocean’ and comes only one-and-a-half years after their inception. Noisy, chaotic rock this amazing, shouldn’t be possible for five young English lads to come up with and create. This is wonderful madness. With whips and fierce looking dogs, with mighty fangs, the music is barely kept under control. History Of The Hawk look to the very edges of where the beauty of music borders on the end of all we hold dear. Twisting like Refused, grinding like Converge, and yet grooving like Fugazi, under a thick blanket of unholy razorsharp screams. The intensity almost becomes too much at times. I’m glad this review is from the download, as if I’d had the vinyl, it would surely have crept out of its sleeve at night to kill all who stood in its way and murder me in my sleep. One of the best, and most violent records, of the year. Humanity beware, History Of The Hawk are here to ruin the future for each and every one of us, and it’s this ruined future that I’m looking forward to with a smile on my face" ---- ---- ---- ---- "Britain's got talent? Too fucking right it has. There are plenty of amazing young bands in the UK right now, and History of the Hawk are one of the hottest newcomers. With their powerful blend of Dischord-inspired hardcore punk, the Midlands quintet recently dropped their "OCEAN" EP (via In At The Deep End) and it's chock-full of abrasive, angular guitar riffing - just the way we like it. Hopefully, the new year will bring a full-length that delivers more of the same and all will be good" Rock Sound No messing, a monster of sound.- Alex Baker, Kerrang Radio ---- ---- ---- ---- Rock Sound OCEAN review 8/10 If the hardcore world is currently riding The Wave, then History Of The Hawk are busy whipping up a sandstorm on the shore, thrashing at their instruments and causing havoc among kids feasting on a diet of leftfield hardcore. As far as statements of intent go, 'Ocean' is about as subtle as a kick in the teeth. Taking a bold step back in time, this is a band who ply their trade in short, punchy songs that manage to cram in enough off-kilter time signatures and sandpaper riffing to give it that all-important depth. Super stuff. - Oli Robertson Big Cheese 4/5 A great big melting pot of hardcore goodness. Having only formed this year, History of the Hawk are clearly doing something right with this, their debut EP. Their music is something of a mish-mash, fusing an incredibly large variety of sounds from the hardcore spectrum of the last 20 or 30 years. It’s both reminiscent of these older sounds, yet at the same time sounds remarkably innovative. There are hints of Converge’s aggression, Minor Threat’s straight-ahead simplicity and a certain jagged, Fugazi-esque spiky edge. The best thing about it is that often fusing such varied sounds can fail spectacularly, but in this case, it really really works. - Ed Newman Ninehertz "In keeping with the commendable Witch Hunter release policy which appears to be ‘genre doesn't matter but quality does' comes this EP from the West Midlands' History of the Hawk. Already available as a 7" on long standing Black Country label Speedowax and digitally from In At The Deep End, Witch Hunter have put out this short and to the point release by History of the Hawk in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it (100 copies) cassette version. Coming from the impassioned and tuneful end of the (post) hardcore spectrum, this prompts favourable comparisons with influences from years gone by such as The Trans Megetti, maybe a touch of Refused and most tellingly Fugazi. There's more of a sense of urgency about proceedings than was often the case with these influences; HotH show a bit less restraint and more concentration on the energy. This is a good thing. Opener X is the New Y builds up the tension and momentum, bursting forth with a well defined balance between rocking abandon and easing off the gas in preparation to let rip again. Throughout the six tunes on display the drums keep everything anchored and propelled as the bass and guitars lunge at the ears with a combination of riffage and staccato jabbing- there's a lot going on but it holds together well. There are moments such as the intro for track 4 Little Parisians, where things take a considerably heavier, more rocky turn bringing to mind mid-period Planes Mistaken for Stars, whilst Social Heat has a more straightforward hardcore approach and commensurate 41 second running time. The ease with which the band straddle the different elements of their sound and bring them all together warrants a big pat on the back. A bit of postmodern contextualism (ooh, get him) crops up in the title of closer The Map is Not The Territory; the obscurity of the title and the dirtier pounding quality of the song offers a hint of the kind of leftfield punk championed by Gravity Records in the early 90s. The propulsive determination accented with quirks and discordant off-beats which pretty much defines post-hardcore (sorry to use such a whiffy description but that's the label this kind of thing tends to get lumbered with) will always be associated with the Dischord label's back catalogue. This influence is present here but it's all given an admirable twist that identifies this as definitely British rather than another bunch of yankee wannabes. Although the inspirations for Ocean are clear, the enthusiasm and different angle taken on the disparate parts make History of the Hawk an auspicious prospect for the future." Dead Press 8/10 Right from the get-go, it's pretty clear that this is a very neat debut EP from the Stourbridge five-piece, History Of The Hawk. The best way to describe this would be Bring Me The Horizon, meets Lower Than Atlantis, meets The Rezillos. This is post-hardcore with a punk influence, and it works pretty well actually. Opener 'X Is The New Y' is an eloquent build-up to an otherwise wild EP, hinting at what is about to audibly assault the listener, this would make a crisp opener to almost any gig - controlled build up to a wild, energetic crescendo - and bursting into 'Freyer'; the definition of this band in one song. If you only listen to one song on this EP, this is the one. It's aggressive, it's edgy, it's hardcore music with a punk attitude, and the limited production values only add to this - it's a very intimate, yet explosive EP. 'You, Me, Let's Cyberside Baby' and 'Parisians' follow a similar track to 'Freyer', a rather Biffy Clyro-esque structure, of a controlled intro, almost lulling you into believing this is easy listening prog-rock, which then descends into chaos, but chaos of the finest form, with intricate key changes and time signatures, this is so much more complex than meets the eye. 'Social Heat' however, is just a punchy, punk song, energetic and snappy, and the closing song showcases the clean vocals that this quintet possess, showing a completely different side to History Of The Hawk. Ability is here in abundance, this is probably as good a debut EP as you will hear in a long time, definitely worth listening to. With this debut, the band seem to be out to prove to be more than just a hardcore band. 2011 - 2012 RIP, album "Future Ruins" out now via In At The Deep End Records (which you can purchase for only £3 at www.iatde.com). OCEAN 7" via Speedowax available somewhere.