Belfast heavy hitters Haint release their debut EP “Terminally Evolved” on the 22nd of September, it may only be five tracks but each one is a monster.
Opener “Ares” bursts forth from your speakers like a sledgehammer and smashes you right in the face, a powerhouse of a track with a mighty bass line that reverberates about your brain creating an excellent foil with Booth’s gravelly vocals, the calm break at the midpoint is but a brief respite before it blows up again with grinding riffs and a thumping drum beat, a bruising opener.
“Hal” changes things up massively from the opening track in the fact that it is not as aggressive, cleaner vocals throughout, spoken at the chorus’, the guitar is down tuned and is so heavy it nearly matches the bass tone, a killer rhythmic drum beat is near hypnotic, luring you in like a siren on the rocks, this is a fantastic track that grows on you with each listen, very reminiscent of one of my all-time favourite bands Silverchair.
“Screaming At The Storm” opens with a buzzing guitar and bass riff that is helped by a heavy drum beat, clean vocals once again come to the fore, with the addition of some amazing harmonies, the guitar solo in the middle of the track is really understated but unbelievably brilliant, another solid track. From the crashing drums to the rumbling bass and killer growled vocals at the opening of “Everything I Lost” you can feel the heaviness just washing over you, the changing vocal styles throughout the track really make it stand out in so much as even though the vocals mellow the tone still crushes, a killer track.
The EP closes with “Genius Loci”, a compelling track that takes its lead from what has gone before and doubles down on it, a hefty bass and drum beat intertwines nicely with a great riff which accentuates the vocals as they switch between guttural and clean, a brilliant finish to the ep that gets better with each listen.
Powerful from start to finish, “Terminally Evolved” is released 22nd of September.
Review: Conor
Haint are:
Ian Booth Vocals/Guitar
Darren Lavery Bass/vocals
Mark Drums