Drug Honkey: "Ghost In The Fire" Reviewed

Chicago's Drug Honkey comes to me by the way of India, funny how small the world is getting. I received their CD Ghost In The Fire in a trade with the Indian label Transcending Obscurity who released this album in 2012 but under the name Diabolical Conquest. And boy am I glad they send me this CD, cause it is awesome, yes I said it. It is no way about it, Drug Honkey has created a masterpiece with this one. But I would assume that not everyone will agree with me, since Drug Honkey's music is an acquired taste. The music is funeral doom mixed with death metal, and holy mackerel is it some heavy and droning stuff. One cannot blame these guys for taking things to fast, cause damn it is slow at times. Besides the standard funeral doomy stuff of super slow drums accompanied with an barrage of slow power (or whatever that noise is) we are given some industrial sounding electronic sounds. And I think this is what makes this album so interesting, there is always something going on. Sometimes it sounds like the entire sound picture is just distorted to hell and that things are really, really going south. It is not a lot of things are going on, most time almost nothing is, but in that nothingness something killer is happening.

With this album I think Drug Honkey has done something quite extraordinary, they have made the perfect noise. When first listening to this album I was a bit skeptical but as the first song turned into the second one I was hooked. This is music filled with so much emotion and angst it is almost too much to bare. I know this might sound corny but it is the truth. I have to be honest and say that I write off most bands playing this particular brand of angst ridden funeral doom as pretentious junk, don't get me wrong I love allot of funeral doom, but many bands just bore me to tears. But not guys, oh no, there is something about the music on this record that has got my full attention. I don't really like the term soul destroying but I can't really find a term better suiting this album. If I was a religious man I would say that this is probably what hell sounds like, or maybe a psychotic break down.

The vocals range from low death metal grunts to more black metal sounding screams and plain old shouting. The voices used are varied and this keeps things interesting, since when the pace is this low, at least for me I get very easily bored. I have a hard time writing anything really concrete about this album since I feel that I get swept away in the music almost like I am floating in an red ocean and the only thing that surrounds me is the music. One thing that stands out form me thou is track 9 Twitcher since this track consists of the drums playing a jazzy beat and a guitar playing a lonesome melody (and I'm using that term loosely cause I'm pretty certain it is just distortion) with some electronic sounds in the background. This song serves as a great little break from all the torment my ears have suffered through this record, and I do men that in the most positive way possible. And if you consider that this song is just a loop of a few seconds that goes round and round for almost six minutes and was loving every single loop. You know that these guys have done something right.    And for the last track the drone and angst is back. 

The production on Ghost In The Fire is one that fits the music perfectly, it is not exactly pretty to listen to, but I guess that is the point. The drums has a good but raw sound, the bass is heavy and guitars, well they are distorted like there is no tomorrow. There are allot of effects going on, especially on the vocals, and that just adds to the haunting feeling.    

Soooo is drone, funeral doom or just plain spooky shit you bag, then this bag is for you. It is simply an extraordinary bag.

Sweden`s Wilhelm Lindh*, "Portuguese by adoption," guitar player,  composer and owner of the Doom / Death Metal band The Gardnerz, reviews here in HeavyHardMetalmania.net. Careful and professional analysis to the music and albums with suggestions of what there is to see and hear ... not to be missed. "The wisdom is found in the extremes, all extreme Metal here!".

1.Order of the Solar Temple

2.Ghost in the Fire

3.Weight of the World

4.This Time I Won't Hesitate

5.In Black Robe

6.Dead Days(Heroin III)

7.Five Years Up

8.Out of My Mind

9.Twitcher [Scorn Cover] 

10.Saturate/Annihilate

Honkey Head(Paul Gillis) Synths/Vocals/Samples/Programming

BH Honkey(Adam Smith) - Drums

Hobbs(Gabe Grosso) - Guitar

Brown Honkey(Ian Brown) - Bass

Scag Honkey(Blake Judd) - Guitar/Vocals

"... With the release of their strongest album to date & the addition of Blake Judd to the lineup things are looking better than ever for the band. Together they are in the beginning stages of writing new material with plans of releasing an EP in 2013..."

"The only drug you need is Drug Honkey"

facebook.drughonkey | transcendingobscurity.drug.honkey.ghost...