"Initially founded as the quintet No Way in 2012, the group's core trio...explored a noisy post-punk inspired by the guitar daredevilry of Drive Like Jehu before embracing the crushing riffage of their bludgeon-rock forebears like Unsane and Deadguy. Dirgy psychedelia found its way into the mix as well, and there are even traces of southern-fried swamp rock grooves in their sound —and all of this is buttressed by a spine forged from the heaviest of metal.
Adding singer Chuck Berrett and adopting the name HAAN from a complex Korean term signifying collective feelings of isolation, injustice, melancholy, and insurmountable oppression, they announced their existence to the world in 2014 with the brutal and amazing cassette E.P. Sing Praises.
HAAN's new album, By the Grace of Blood and Guts, is due August 10 on Aqualamb Records. Fans of Sing Praises will rejoice to hear that the full-length delivers the same kicks —Maffei and drummer Enriquez deftly manage the twin tasks of battery and fluidity while Melkin punctuates savage riffing with noisy passages that recall the mind-bending guitar needling of Daughters. Berrett channels a range of effective vocal stylings from that recall everything from the brawny expressiveness of Iron Maiden's Paul Di'Anno all the way to the rhythmic incantations of Clutch's Neil Fallon, and his way with a turn of phrase is undeniable as he conjures HAAN's fight songs for the apocalypse."
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