Hellbeard – “Scarecrow”

Meet Hellbeard. These dudes capitalize on crush and capitulation with their most recent release, Scarecrow. A more fully realized and cohesive first outing might be hard to muster to memory… and deservedly so.

While this record is the first to bear the namesake, the musicians have played together in other projects over the years and the familiarity with one another is at once present and tangible to this listener. Crafting a record consisting of eight songs which segue into each other, held together by ambience provided by shoegazey guitar noise, I am reminded in the best possible way of Neurosis, Quicksand, High on Fire and something lacking from the majority of bands with influences such as these: originality.

Jumping from rollicking stoneresque riffage to introspective dreamlike sequences, Scarecrow provides the loud-quiet-loud fix while key and tempo change keep the record interesting. The production is devoid of homogeneous sampled drumming and features a number of varying guitar and bass tones that steer clear of the digitally processed ilk… firmly cementing the sound of the album with that of its post metal contemporaries. This isn’t jaded, crusty West Oakland by-way-of suburb redundancy. It is, however, something new and something old cleverly combined and above all, worth a serious listen.

Track Listing:

01. Locomotive
02. In Black End
03. Scarecrow
04. Richmond
05. Calloused
06. Devils Nest
07. Southern Love
08. Exodus

Run Time: 47:04
Release Date: August 30, 2010

Check out the song “Locomotive”