Review Summary: They say swearing in French is like wiping your ass with silk. Listening to Henker is like wiping your ass with tree bark and then sitting on a nail. And it's awesome.
Merde Sainte! France, you have given us so many joyous foods, the language of romance, countless bands from Trust to Gojira, beautiful women, the Eiffel tower; yet you've never won a battle. Perhaps Napoleon's height and hamartia was his downfall, or perhaps France never really wanted to actually win a battle, but for whatever reasons, you've been losers. That is, until Henker took hold of your countries pitiful existence, and pretty much punched the world in the face.
Henker is a band that's easy to compare to others, but hard to classify on it's own. Guitar sweeps flowing forth like hurricanes would suggest technical death metal, endless drums and riffs done in the veins of grindcore hail to bands such as Napalm Death, and the growls are so guttural and vicious that Chris Barnes would be impressed. But rather than just throw Henker into one overly complicated sub-genre, like deathened-technician-polegrinding-core, I'm just going to keep it simple; they're death metal. To truly get a sense of what Henker sounds like, you have to give a listen to the ferocious album presented. But, in essence, Henker is a few parts Brain Drill, a few parts Abysmal Dawn, and quite a hefty helping of Pig Destroyer. I know what you're thinking; "Two generic, boring death metal bands, and an easily hateable grandcore band combined? I'll skip this sh*t". But do not despair, for Henker simply takes the best of each band and melds it into one unique sound. The lightning fast sweeps and guitar wankery of Brain Drill, which often sound like a phone ringing, are kept in check and at a happy medium. The guttural growls of death metal are interspersed with a higher shriek, and though certain sections verge on the breakdown-rape formula, Henker knows when to call it quits and start on a more grindcore approach. This is good, because an album that could fall in with the bland side of death metal is kept interesting and varied.
Now, apart from those rather awful comparisons, if someone was to ask me what sound Henker creates, I would only give one answer. Quadruple bass pedal. That, in essence, is this Paris band. It's over the top, it's insane, it's probably a little (a lot) unnecessary, but it works. This isn't Viraemia bass masturbation; this is tightly knit, extreme ear sex. Each lightning riff is complemented by furious fret work from the lead guitar, and the bass follows along like a well oiled machine. While the guitar is impressive, with sweeps plucked as effortlessly as cookies from a jar, and tremolo picking so fast even Immortal would turn their heads, one instrument stands out. The drums. Which brings me back to that original statement; quadruple bass pedal. The drummer in this band plays a unique electronic drum kit, rather than the typical acoustic, with four bass pedals. Now, you can give four pedals to any drummer, but they probably won't be able to utilize it as best possible; this is not true of Henker's drummer. He's a machine. While he uses blast beats typically found in grindcore, and often a few cymbal hits to keep the beat, his footwork is more prominent, and more impressive. He always seems to be using the pedals, whether it be during a fill, or simply backing the other instruments subtly (if that's possible), which helps keep the album focused. His drumming gives each song a backbone, and allow the other members of the band to carry out each of their instruments; it's almost like he's showcasing the band, but at the same time, you can't help but listen with your jaw wide open as his drumming pours through your skull. The pedal speed literally gets to a point where it's one continuous noise on certain songs. That right there summarizes their sound, however; Henker isn't making music to please you, for your friends to chill out to. They're making straight up, break neck, frantic music, that's a love it or hate it affair.
Now, the one complaint I have for this otherwise stellar album is that it never slows down, and never changes. It's grindcore and death metal, so what can one expect? But something interesting on a few songs is an audio sample, done in Japanese. The drawing of a sword, a few flutes howling in the wind, an old man spouting out words of wisdom. My question is why was this not continued throughout the album? It would have been much more interesting to break the constant assault with a handful of audio clips, no longer than one minute. That being said, sometimes the intros to the songs are muted, and act as a breather of sorts. Still, the songs blend together after a while, and even just a little variety, at least in between tracks, would have brought the replay value up just a little.
If you're into this brand of extreme metal, I suggest you check this album out
immediately. Other than perhaps becoming bored of it quickly, at least the first impression will blow your face off, and I'm sure you'll take away a few memorable moments. Enfer oui.
