HAIDUK - Demonicon
October 20, 2015, 8 years ago
(Independent)
Been enjoying following the progress of this Calgarian one-man band for a while now, his material always impressing although always slightly frustrating, held back by production and drum-machine limitations. And what have we here? Hair-pulling production right out of the gates, the lack of bottom end immediately giving this one more of a demo quality than it deserves. This guy is the master of the riffs, the Jeff Waters of black/death, each song a whirlwind of excellent guitar work; see a tune like “Sarxas” or, really, any other song here (although I'd point you to the stunning “Corloch” for a great example of hellish riffing and cool songwriting dynamics) to see what Haiduk is capable of.
My wishes are the same as always: a more rewarding production sound and a full band instead of a solo situation, to see what kind of results the chemistry would bring. Maybe that would hinder instead of help, though, as right now, this guy's on to something. We gave his last an 8.5 and this is no worse, maybe even better, but time has passed and the more albums that are out there and the more time goes on in a subgenre's lifespan (context counts), the harder it gets to get to such high numbers; the decreased rating reflects that more than the excellent tunes found within this, Haiduk proving again they (he) are a gem in Canadian metal.
