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Thy Catafalque
Stengade, Copenhagen, DEN - 6/4
Album Reviews
Harms Way
Oxytocin
Written by: ASH on 14/09/2006 18:02:40
Oh yeah, let's start a war today! The guitar is hammering in the good stoner-rock fashion, the bass delivers pulsating rhytms accompanied by creative drumming that pulls some of the monotonic riff-raffs onto the right track. Eventually, the energetic voice of Dim lays the final touch to an interesting release from the Swedish quartet Harms Way. As described, their first track "As Time Goes By" gives you a rough, but pleasant welcome to their newest album "Oxytocin".
At this stage you're probably already wondering why they've called their album "Oxytocin". It's kind of awkward, and you might think "what the hell is oxytocin anyways?". It's just a neurotransmitter in the brain called 'quick birth' in Greek, which is released when we all have a 'great time'. Dim and his crew sure have done their research right.
"Oxytocin" consists of eight powerful tracks like "Million Ways", which undoubtedly draw similarities to Queens of The Stone Age-ish sounds. This gives you the feel of some good stoner rock mixed with some more hard rock-ish elements. The sixth track "Move Your Face" is a good example of this along with the seventh track "Prime Time". Two songs, which I definitly recommend listening to after you've worn and teared through "As Time Goes By".
Summing it all up, Harms Way's new release is well balanced in both ups and downs. Ups are unquestionably the energy, strength and stoner rhythm that these Swedes easily pound through your speakers. Downs would, in my opinion, be the lack of originality you feel when you've listened through it all, Dim's voice on some tracks where it seems like he has some problems with the pronouncations, and lastly "Hocus Pocus", the eight track. I dare you to make something like that on your next album. I won't be responsible for the consequences.
Download: "As Time Goes By", "Million Ways"
For the fans of: Queens of The Stone Age, Stoner-rock
Listen: Move Your Face MP3
Release date 25.09.2006
Black Lodge
Provided by Target ApS