Hauk - To Hear The Trumpets Call

\r\n"To Hear The Trumpets Call" consists of two new songs, a re-recording\r\nof a previously released track, and a thrash influenced remix. Because\r\nof the lack of new content, and the fact that most of these songs can\r\nbe found on the band’s MySpace page, the EP is probably aimed more\r\ntowards new fans who want to find out if they like Hauk’s sound or not.
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\r\nThe opening title track starts off with a good deal of promise, even if\r\nit is overly formulaic in its march-to-war approach, and has the\r\nstrongest Norse atmosphere. The epic feel of preparing for war works\r\nfor a few moments, until the keyboards are introduced. On all of these\r\nsongs the keyboards always work at cross purpose to the guitars. Rather\r\nthan injecting a melodic interlude or having the keyboards follow the\r\nsame melody as the guitars they instead have an upbeat and almost\r\ncartoonish feel while the guitars are trying to rage on and get people\r\nready the coming battle. The guitar parts can be quite compelling on\r\ntheir own for those who prefer the earlier style of traditional metal.\r\nThey aren’t going to bowl anyone over with their technicality, but they\r\ndo have a certain fun energy that will at least get the toes tapping,\r\nif not quite the heads banging. The\r\nproduction does not help much, as  it is too moderate. All instruments are\r\nheard, but it is obvious that they didn’t do much to have the proper production for the songs.\r\nThe vocals are bad, because Hauk treats singing more like a chore, rather\r\nthan as part of the overall effort.\r\n

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\r\nThe\r\n"Love Song # 4 (Burn Rome)" is completely different from the previous\r\ntrack. The war cries and the odes to Odin are completely absent and\r\nreplaced by a love song, a song that was written two decades ago.\r\nAnyone who likes the 80s hair metal and believes that the\r\nidea of raising a raven crested sail and heading off to burn Rome for a lover,\r\nwill find that track  the perfect track. Anyone else ... would try to pull his hair of. The last song, "Raven Wings" introduces some innovations that no\r\nother tracks have. The thrashy tone and the female vocal addition as a duet on the chorus makes the song more melodic and quite easy to stuck in your head.
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\r\nIn\r\nconclusion\r\nI think, this is a modest attempt, that gives us a rather mediocre\r\nimpression, whether someone is a band’s fan or wants to find more about\r\nthe band.\r\n

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\r\nKonstantinos Grevenitis \r\n

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