Review: Hawk Eyes - Ideas

 At the start of 2011, the emergence with a funny seeming band with a funny sounding name Chickenhawk came into emergence. Being taken seriously seemed out of the question. Most bands that have the word "chicken" in their name tend to have a hard time being taken seriously. Chickenfoot are an incredibly boring supergroup. About half way through the year, the band noticed this and the chicken was disposed of and the group got themselves a set of Hawk Eyes. And it's with these eyes that they've gained a greater vision and focus to make a major impact in the world of rock and metal. And with the strength of their debut Ideas, it's clear that this goal has already been achieved.

 This is perhaps once more an album that displays the ethics of rock and roll in it's purest form. It's rough, it's aggressive and every moment keeps you on the edge of your seat guessing what's going to happen next. The performance of the Leeds quartet is constantly alight with a range of frantic energy and twisted melodies. For me, any band that plays with the kind of heavy melodic relentlessness that Queens of the Stone Age had at the turn of the century is a winner in my eyes and Hawk Eyes certainly have that Rated R passion within them and go beyond that, unafraid to take things that bit further injecting their red hot spiraling riff-athons with more hardcore - mathcore even complexity and skill that would make Dillinger Escape Plan members happy with the kind of influence they've spread over the years.
 The band do elaborate on their sterile delirious guitar skills across the eleven songs on this album with a constantly heavy performance to keep things forceful and unrelenting, whether it's found in the frenzied stoner grooves that kick off proceedings on Witch Hunt, the blistering solos found in schizophrenic punk belter Yes Have Some or the thrashy pounding of closer Bees which manages to be every bit as trippy and atmospheric as it is brutal and ass-kicking.
 But the desire for absolute intensity and to create music that serves as a permanent rush of blood-soaked aggression makes this album really hit listeners hard. Hawk Eyes drag listeners down into their world of snarling Hellfire and keep you hooked throughout. The music is very much that which you will lose yourself in whether you like it or not.
 So, this debut hopefully marks out the beginning of a long-lasting and ever-successful career for Hawk Eyes. With their fiery mix of punk, metal and rock and roll at it's most ferocious they pretty much have all things forceful covered. It's perfection.

 Hawk Eyes' Ideas is out now via Fierce Panda Records.