Hammers of Misfortune - The August Engine

[JayKeeley]

Bloody marvellous!

Thanks npearce for sending me the promo - it's been spinning all day whilst I did "real" work work. I will review this eventually for sure, and try to hunt down their debut.

JimLotFP called this. Hats off to him. He had this at the #1 spot for his 2003 top 10, interviewed the band, and wrote a 7 page review. It really is one of those albums where everything about it screams perfection.

As always, you hear the good stuff after the fact. This would have made my top 10 for 2003, no doubt.

 

[MadeInNewJersey]

Well give me more of a description dammit!

 

[JayKeeley]

Mark - this is SO good, and I mean, seriously SO good, that if I can hunt it down somewhere I'll buy you a copy. I think you will like this more than anyone I know. Once I'm done with the promo, someone else on staff can have a turn. There is no question that I'm not buying this.

OK this is it in a nutshell, but whatever follows here doesn't do it justice. Anyway, here goes:

First of all, it's progressive traditional metal - modern, with a classic 70's touch. Think Geddy Lee on bass jamming with Rainbow era-Ritchie Blackmore, but with a totally modern sound.

The vocals soar - not in a power metal kind of way - but in a classic metal kind of way. The dude is like a cross between Geoff Tate (down 2 octaves), early Peter Gabriel, and just a hint of Eddie Veder (sp?).

Every song has been fine-tuned to the point where each verse and each chorus brings something new to the table. There is no repetition whatsoever, which makes each song a magnum opus in its own right. There is no same-same element to it, but don't think that it's mindless wanky prog either. You know I hate that shit. Even though there are loads of riff changes etc, it all still flows together seamlessly.

It's just so fucking intellectual and painstakingly perfected. If you saw this live, you'd never want to leave the arena.

 

[JayKeeley]

Hahaha!!! And just like that, The End have it in stock!

EVERYONE HERE AT RC - Check this out: http://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com/sounds/misfortune.mp3

Tell me that isn't phenomenal.

 

[JayKeeley]

Dreamlord - can you hunt me down a copy of "The Bastard" by these guys?

 

[Nate The Great]

Sick 'em Dreamlord!

 

[ProgMetalFan]

I've heard a couple songs... it's certainly very unique... but I'm not quite sure if I like it or not... there's just something about it that grates on me... might be the vocals. Perhaps I'll just have to hear the whole album sometime to get a true feel for it though.

 

[JayKeeley]

I've heard a couple songs... it's certainly very unique... but I'm not quite sure if I like it or not....

Nah man, you gotta give it another chance! Seriously, trust me on this. Did you hear the sample MP3 link I provided? I guess if you don't like that then it might not be your cup of tea, but then I would have to think you're loco.

 

[Demonspell]

Jim's incessant promotion got me into them...one of the more ambitious and unqiue albums released in a long while, and while the vocals can be a bit distracting at first, they do fit into the overall picture...

 

[J.]

Dreamlord - can you hunt me down a copy of "The Bastard" by these guys?

try here:

http://usa.scratchrecords.com/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=10386

 

[JayKeeley]

try here:

http://usa.scratchrecords.com/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=10386http://usa.scratchrecords.com/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=10386[/QUOTE[/QUOTE]

Nice one, thanks.

So in the last 12 hours, I have on order their latest, their debut, and their demo.

I actually woke up this morning looking forward to hearing the promo again.

 

[Black Winter Day]

it's pretty good...

 

[NAD]

Diggin the mp3... the singer almost has a Crash Test Dummies thing going on, which I like.

 

[JayKeeley]

Diggin the mp3... the singer almost has a Crash Test Dummies thing going on, which I like.

Ooh that's true. Good one. I was actually going with Eddie Veder myself, but I'll steal your CTD comparison for the review. The female vox on the album are great too! Just a phenomenal album overall. I now have their 'hard to find' debut album but I'm afraid to open it - there's only so much goodness I can take.

 

[lurch70]

Very classic sounding ... very galloping! Me like

The string intro to that sample track had me thinking " Oh no, another Agalloch" ... but then it went into Maidenish territory.

The band definetelly has a 70's feel to it. Almost like they are from that time ...

Good stuff.

 

[JayKeeley]

Very classic sounding ... very galloping! Me like

The string intro to that sample track had me thinking " Oh no, another Agalloch" ... but then it went into Maidenish territory.

The band definetelly has a 70's feel to it. Almost like they are from that time ...

Good stuff.

Yeah, there is a huge timewarp thing going on. It's like they've taken modern metal influences and just given them a retro vibe without sounding overtly classic, thereby making them progressive (but not proggy).

I'm currently listening to their debut album now (The Bastard), and quite honestly, I now think this could be one of the greatest bands in the current scene that nobody will ever get to hear about due to low-key labels and distribution.

The Bastard is slightly different to The August Engine in that it's a concept album set in medieval times, and so there's an obvious nod to folk melody with a mixture of instrument styles, clean vox, death vox, female chants, and TONNES OF GROOVE. Also, every song just pushes forward - nothing stagnant here with the typical verse-chorus-verse-chorus bullshit song structure that's been done to death.

Just completely unique. \m/

 

[lurch70]

Just completely unique. \m/

Yes, that one song sample you provided a link to had me listening to it over and over. Something mesmerizing aobut it. Can't quite put my finger on it though.

Their website, www.hammersofmisfortune.com has some interesting pictures of the band members. Their "looK" does not quite fit the type of music they are playing. They almost look like some Greenwich Village based rock/punk band ... wierd. But it makes them even more so interesting ...

 

[Demonspell]

They're definitely one of those bands who casts a strange aura and makes describing their music in simple phrases a difficult task...I do have to agree about about the band blurring the lines between retro and modern influences...

 

[BenMech]

Hammers of Misfortune always remind me of a modern day version of my heroes, the Blüe Öyster Cvlt!!!!!

The August Engine is genius, if a little upsetting, especially AFTER you read Raggi's full review, which includes a song NOT included on the album anybody else in the world has.

 

[JayKeeley]

The August Engine is genius, if a little upsetting, especially AFTER you read Raggi's full review, which includes a song NOT included on the album anybody else in the world has.

They should maybe offer it as an MP3 on their website. When I bought their Unholy Cadaver demo from them directly, they offered to rip me a CD-R for The Bastard. I politely turned down the offer since I'd already bought the original, but at least it shows that they're a band who just want to get their music out there to the fans.

I totally agree with JimLOTFP's negative comments about labels like Metal Blade signing dozens of metalcore acts or whatever, especially when there are real metal bands like HoM struggling to release all this phenomenal music.