Review Summary: An interesting and glorious attempt to further the possibilities of extreme music . These guys aren’t amazing, but they have potential to be great as an experimental band.
Originally known as a screamo band from San Jose, California, HHLL is a band that thrives on a lack of song structure, breakdowns, and being obnoxiously chaotic. Their style has changed since their formation in 2004, changing from a screamo band to experimental mathcore. While they are not the first band of their kind out their, their sound is a unique one. With slugging bass lines, smashing drum beats, eccentric distorted guitar riffs, and messy vocal styles, this band has figured out their sound and seems to be happy with it. While their music doesn’t come close to complexity and quality of similar bands like Dillinger Escape Plan, they still create some surprisingly decent material for their genre. To people unfamiliar to their genre, HHLL may come off as a bunch stoner idiots with instruments ready to make noise. But, these guys have the right idea when it comes to playing their genre.
While there are plenty of imperfections on the album (which I’ll get to later), it still has ample upsides. The guitar players don’t seem to have expert skills on their instruments, but most of the riffs they come up with are pretty kick-ass and fit the music very well. The spastic guitars work along well with the bashing of drums and bass, which brings me to the rhythm section. The bass has its moments where it will play something different than the guitar and it is mostly audible throughout the album. The drums are good in keeping time with the constantly changing time signatures and playing beats which fits the music and aren’t too overdone. The vocals get tied up in the energy of the songs which shows there is connection between the music and what he is yelling in songs such as I Forgot 2 and A Half Days and Texas Chainsaw Mascer-Uh.
And now, for the downsides. HHLL try too hard to shove the fact that they are a technical band down your throat. From time to time, the chaos in the instrumentation can be too much when listening because of the random note sliding and messy drumming. If it wasn’t for the mass turmoil, listeners would realize the exceptional riffing going on in songs like Mall-Nutrition and Are You Ok, Kiddo?. The vocals can also be irritating when they get whiny and sloppy. And of course…the breakdowns. I know this band’s genre types usually includes breakdowns, but how many do you need in a CD lasting roughly 20 minutes? Some of the breakdowns are out of place and aren’t necessary. However, many of the breakdowns are better than many of which I have heard in genres close to this.
If I were to describe this album to someone who had never heard of HHLL, I would have trouble finding the right words to say. This album is a work of creativity and novelty and I give the band credit for bringing forth such an interesting and glorious attempt to further the possibilities of extreme music . These guys aren’t amazing, but they have potential to be great as an experimental band. Even though some of these tracks are just remastered or have already been released, this album turned out better than what they have put out before and I would say this is a very good album for the genre.
Pros:
Good rhythm section
Creative and original
Interesting vocals
Guitar work
Cons:
Too many breakdowns
Noisy and messy at points
Short songs
Recommended Tracks:
Mall-Nutrition
I Forgot 2and A Half Days
Are You Ok Kiddo?
Texas Chainsaw Mascer-Uh
