Baltimore’s Musket Hawk has been one of my favorite local bands for quite a few years, as they’ve taken influence from just about every type of metal and punk possible and have created a style that sounds unique. It’s not uncommon for grind or powerviolence bands to have sludgy breakdowns, but these guys have always written their transitions in a more unpredictable manner. For album number three, Upside of Sick, the group’s refined this mixture to its most potent level. It might be their shortest yet, but Musket Hawk crams more riffs and blasts that stand out in that span of time than most.
The album opener “Roidhead Swindler” is a pretty good representation of everything the band has to offer in a single track, as it shows the depth of influences they’re pulling from in four and a half minutes. You get a slower build-up that suggests you might be in for Grief’s type of abrasive sludge/doom, but around the halfway point the tempo kicks up and the riffs take on much more of a punk slant. Musket Hawk keeps this kind of shapeshifting up for the entirety of the record, and whether they’re settling into a catchy groove or blasting you with the all-out rage of punk/grind there’s always substance to the riffs that makes Upside of Sick stand out. It might sound like they’re literally throwing the kitchen sink of punk and extreme metal at you, but everything’s woven together into a cohesive fashion that keeps you guessing as to where they’ll go next. Musket Hawk’s kept a similar feel to their recording when compared to Desolate, as it gives off a rough edge that’s damn close to what they sound like in a live setting and lets the heaviness come through without overdoing it.
Musket Hawk has utilized a dual vocal attack from the very beginning, offering up pitches that are from opposite ends of the spectrum. Considering they have this same type of versatility to the instrumentation, it’s an approach that’s worked to their advantage and this is once again the case on Upside of Sick. Gary’s higher pitched screams are blood curdling while Marty’s growls give off the same level of distortion and inhuman sound of classic grind acts like Agathocles. Rather than letting one dominate a particular song, the two have a tendency to trade off from one minute to the next or scream/growl at the same time which ups the energy level significantly.
Upside of Sick isn’t quite the same leap forward that Desolate was from their debut, but Musket Hawk has refined their sound further and written songs that provide plenty of standout moments to keep listeners wanting to come back. They’re just as hard to pin down as ever, and you’ll likely need a few times through the album to truly get a feel for everything that’s happening here. But once that’s happened, there’s something about the heavy grooves and sudden blasts that will give this one some longevity. Upside of Sick is available from Unholy Anarchy Records.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg
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