EP Review: More Songs About Sex And Death

First of all, I just want to say how much I appreciate a really good band name, and I reckon Hateseeker is one of the best I’ve heard in quite a while, one of those “man I wish I’d thought of that” names. It’s a pretty safe bet that you know what you’re going to get, with that name. Well, luckily, they don’t disappoint.

Their “Dark Punk and Metal Groove” came into being in 2013, and More Songs About Sex And Death is their fourth release, following albums Black Mercy, Witch House, and Let’s Talk About Death.

On first track Alpha Wolf (Demon Knife) Hateseeker amply demonstrate that they’re one of those bands that comfortably walks the line between Punk and Metal, without definitively being either. Large slabs of extra-meaty guitars and bass over ponding drums, and vocals that sound like the tortured feral offspring of Elvis and a werewolf. I would have liked to have heard those vocals just a little higher in the mix, just a smidge.

The Cutter has a rambunctious chuggity-chug riff into some double-kick drumming that would have Philthy Animal Taylor nodding his head in approval. Again, I felt the vocals could have benefitted from being a touch more prominent overall. However, on Mountains Of Madness the vocals are more clear, and stay that way for the remaining tracks. This breakneck paced ripper snarls and roars along for two and a half minutes of dark Rock & Roll explosiveness, thunderous and deadly.

Things I Do is true Punk brattiness and style in just under 60 seconds, with a riff as classically Punk as spiked hair. Night Queen is 50’s Rock & Roll on nuclear-grade steroids, and good luck trying to not bang your head to this one, the EP’s longest track, which wraps up after a shrawpin’ guitar solo over Joe Deacon’s double-kick juggernauting. Hateseeker certainly have a style and groove that works for them, and last track Circle The Drain is no exception, with their trademark monolithic guitars, barreling drums, and howling vocal fury. There’s an excellent NWOBHM energy to this one.

I hear Motorhead, I hear The Stooges, I hear Black Sabbath, I hear The Cramps, I hear a whole shit-ton of Punk, Metal, and good old Rock & Roll attitude, about as subtle and refined as a sledgehammer to the kneecap. Good stuff, get it in your earholes.