Chickenhawk

NME Magazine - Track of the week 'I Hate This, Do You Like It?
Leeds based Chickenhawk are a group of riff thrasing metal bastards from the wrong side of your worst hangover. Take note, their drummer hits harder than the last time you dreamed you were Todd Trainer. This is the perfect raw vocal antidote to chirpy summer singalongs.

NME.com
Feature for forthcoming video
Tasmanian devils, showing that you can be metal and still clean your teeth.

Steve Lamacq
"Crazed guitar rock from Leeds....featuring the 'Beach's Brook' of guitar solo's" - 'I Hate This Do You Like It' on Radio 6.

The Times
'The Letdown' - track of the day

Metal Hammer
Chickenhawk take just over 3 minutes to annihilate any suspicion of musical conformity. We demand you go and watch them as soon as humanly possible!

Kerrang
Killer chaotic freaked-out prog-core KKKK

Organ
This is a serious twist of intelligent forward looking, thinking person’s creative metal, clearly enough of a band to want to challenge themselves and push their boundaries.

Rock Midgets
Do we like it? Nah, we f**king love it.

Voltcase
Get yourself a copy of this truly innovative work and fast – you won't be disappointed.

Organ magazine
This just might be the British metal album of the year. Oh yes, that good!

The Sleeping Shaman
Have Chickenhawk done an about face and gone down the route of indie credibility? Have they fuck!

Subba-Cultcha Single of the Month
Noise like this really should be mandatory on a Monday morning, slayer-sized riffing, demonic Todd-esque vocals, and the best FX-De-Tuned guitar solo i’ve ever heard – it makes me wanna punch stuff, which is exactly how i feel most Mondays!

Manchester Music album of the week
One of 2009’s exciting heavy rock prospects 4.5/5

Tiny Voices
To say that Chickenhawk are merely 'Rock' would be an understatement, Chickenhawk are an awesome force, every last millisecond of their songs is completely submerged in rock, giving them an intensity and forcefulness that's a rare find in modern music.
- Various

NME Magazine - Track of the week 'I Hate This, Do You Like It?
Leeds based Chickenhawk are a group of riff thrasing metal bastards from the wrong side of your worst hangover. Take note, their drummer hits harder than the last time you dreamed you were Todd Trainer. This is the perfect raw vocal antidote to chirpy summer singalongs. - NME magazine UK

Chickenhawk A.OR NOT?
(BREW)

Lots of filthy wretched goodness oozing out of Leeds these days, and much of it seems to be fermenting at Brew Records.

This three-track EP is no exception, being a mass of explosively fetid riffs all tangled up in fiendishly proggy knots. Deliciously dark, sociopathically perverse and as heavy as an iron rhino with a 50 a day doughnut habit.

ME - Rock a Rolla magazine

http://www.hellridemusic.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=20713

Chickenhawk – A. Or Not? CDEP (Brew Records)
By Jay Snyder
September 5, 2009

The UK is the place to go, when it comes to grating noise-rock. I’ve been reviewing one knockout release after another in the Am-Rep vein from that neck of the woods. From Gorse to Mondo Cada; it’s all been gravy when it is in relation to the UK’s special take on nerve-damaged guitar chords, squalling white noise, dissonant harmony and ragged vocal abrasions.

Latest in the long line of English troublemakers is Chickenhawk, a progressive quartet who take the complex King Crimsonisms of early Today is the Day and more currently The Wayard, nail it to Barkmarket’s rhythmically dense and catchy sonic disambiguation all the while knuckling down on a streetwise, NYC Unsane beatdown! Yep, this unit has everything you could want out of a noise-blasted bombing such as this, and the strength of these tracks, has me salivating to hear the LP that came before it. This is noise-rock that every discerning fan of the genre must hear.

EP title track begins with the dizzying, dual guitar scathe of guitarists Paul Michael and Robert James that guns down on a King Crimson by way of TITD noodling lick that defies any sort of comprehension. It isn’t long before a jazzy beat and twisted, disharmonic noise-pop riffs create an uneasy tension that’s perfectly complemented by the Yow worthy distorted singing and disjointed screaming. Taking an unexpected turn in the chorus, the grizzled Chickenhawks clamp down on a noisy, squealing howl that somehow materializes into a red-blooded, rock n’ roll riff. A very stoned out moment that calls to mind the high-caliber groovin’ present on several of Akimbo’s LPs. Exploding into pure madness thereafter, the band cuts a swath through the listener’s psyche with double-bass inflected metallic curmudgeon and a fistful of solo insanity that’s so completely confounding that I don’t even know how to accurately describe it. Meanwhile drummer Matthew Reid wears his heart on his sleeve, with a performance full of reckless abandon and mad bomber fills. Sometimes the sheer lunacy of the band’s songwriting genius is way beyond my comprehension, but they manage to make it work. There’s never a lack of noise, that’s for damn certain, but they craft their songs with a keen sense of melody, carving cast-iron hooks into a canvas that barely leaves room for them. Yet, somehow the band finds a way to lace them into their material.

For instance, the monolithic wallop of “Son of Cern” stands as the very best noise-rock song I’ve heard in quite sometime. Burning with rage and dripping a DIY punk ethos, the band ride out a lengthy romp of rocked-out riffs, Butthole Surfers’ mangled background noise and larynx abusing vocals. The beauty is in the details though. There’s some killer singing in this track, including a soaring clean wail above a dense, Rebreather enlightened groove preceding the track’s angular melodic finale…meaning the riff/arrangement is heavy as hell, but possesses a shimmering glow that doesn’t limit its appeal to one specific genre. It’s a little bit of doom, a pinch noise-rock and a small smattering of tidal post-rock…yet realized as a whole it is an entity unto itself, sounding unlike anything else out there. Oddly enough the melodic aspects of this track remind me of ex-Helmet shredder Pete Mengede’s Handsome project. You know the one that featured members of Quicksand and recorded one long forgotten little gem of an album. Well, Chickenhawk carry on more than a bit of their underrated spirit in this track, although the aggressive, progg-y nastiness of the Hawk is much heavier and angrier than that band ever was. The guitar, drum and bass deconstructions are far more in the realm of weirdness like TITD, Hammerhead and King Crimson as opposed to Handsome’s dark, poppy indie/metal combo. It is just that somewhere within Chickenhawk’s rough exterior, lurks a mentally skewered sense of harmony and tunefulness that relies as much on careful tenderness as it does boundary decimating technicality. One listen and you’ll know what I mean, but it is not necessarily the easiest sentiment to convey through the old keyboard/hand translation of thoughts.

Closer, “NASA vs. ESA” is the most straightforward of the three bruisers and earns its bread n’ butter with Ryan Thomas’ bass centric, gravity reversing groove that fights to the death with the sludge-y noise-rock riffs, pocket beats, incessant screaming and high-pitched FX drenched yelling. Not as complex as what came before, but equally sturdy in the head smashing department.

I HAVE to hear this band’s full-length debut! Chickenhawk are not only at the top of the UK noise-rock scene, but are in the top running for noise-rock around the world. They’re bringing back that emotional whipping that TITD perfected with Willpower and adding a completely unique touch of their own to the final product. All of this lands A. or Not? in the category of essential purchasing when it comes to all children of the Am-Rep society. This shit is right up there with the current cream of the crop, and I find it popping up in my rotation all of the time, as the EP’s short play time makes it a stellar listen every time I’m deciding on what long player to spin next. If you like noise-rock and don’t buy this…you’re crazy. There is no way on the planet I can see it disappointing a fan of the genre, so make sure you give the band a listen and decide for yourself. - http://www.hellridemusic.com/

http://www.thesleepingshaman.com/reviews/album/chickenhawk_aornot.php

Chickenhawk 'A.Or Not' EP 09

When Chickenhawk's debut album on Sound Devastation landed it was a caustic breath of air whose collision of punk and hardcore mixed with general fuckery took a switchblade to the throat and ran off giggling down a darkened alleyway. Several gigs later, including appearances at the Reading and Leeds festivals, a zombie related video, and a new home at Brew Records see the Leeds guys back with a new three track release.

Have Chickenhawk done an about face and gone down the route of indie credibility? Have they fuck. This EP is very much business as usual. If anything the addition of a second guitar has pumped up the sound with a suitable injection of steroids that ups the metal quotient. Opening track "I Hate This Do You like It" trims away a lot of the spastic excesses of the album for a more straight ahead metal sound with a greater ear for melody. Fear not Hawk fans, this is still abrasive stuff that could take paint off a wall at 60 paces but has a keener sense of coherence than previously. Track two "Son of Cern" continues in the same vein taking the band at times in Voivod "Killing Technology" era style discordance without disappearing up its own sphincter. The final track "Nasa vs ESA" is a slightly more conventional affair, almost going as far as to boast a groove and a melody that could pass for a chorus and wouldn't have seemed entirely out of place on a Faith No More album. Obviously they won't stray too far from familiar territory and things do go a bit Voivod in the middle but nowadays Chickenhawk know when to pull on the reins and bring things back together.

And then it's all over...three tracks and none that could be classed as epics but when you pack as much into one song as Chickenhawk do you don't need much more. In the short space of time since the release of the album it's clear then band have progressed at a natural but quick pace to produce another fine quality release. Sure it won't be to everyone's taste...parents will hate it and the vocals may be an acquired taste but this could well be the stepping stone that takes the Hawk boys to another level...Kerrang beckons methinks. - www.thesleepingshaman.com

Chickenhawk
A. Or Not? EP
(Brew)
"I hate this, do you like it?" opens with the kind of guitars that make you reminisce about SOAD and Faith No More, but as it drawsto its climax, it grows even further in intensity - Pounding your head into a fine soup.
Before you have time to recover, 'Son of Cern' screams into life, unrelenting in it's mincing of the senses, sitting somewhere between Dillinger escape plan and Metallica. Soon after 'Nasa vs Esa' grapples with all of these influences, whilst also embracing the mighty Sabbath. This EP is merciless and I urge any fan of beastly rock or metal to nestle it to your sweaty hearts.

Martyn Boyle - Artrocker magazine

CHICKENHAWK
Chickenhawk
Sound Devastation

Ice Cube once said, "You can do it put your ass into it." Thats's exactly what's missing from hardcore: music that invites listeners to dance with their ass as opposed to their fists. It's as if such advice went from Cube's lips to Chickenhawk's ears, because this Leeds,U.K. quartet has a bottom so thick and bouncy, it's damn near mesmerizing. chickenhawk's loony and vicious matchcore/pigfuck expose applies groovy inlays that are dapper and ugly at the same time. Put on your best suit and do the PC boogie through the nearest brick wall.
Singer Paul Michael Astick sounds like he tasers his nads for fun, prompting David yow comparisons; the music is ragged, thumpy and spliced with some meticulous guitar hammering. Tuneless bro-gasms are tossed to the wayside in favour of cuts that violently razzle-dazzle the ankles-fucked up maelstroms "My Name is Egg" and "Kerosene" Will make you the Fred Astaire of the pit. And when Astick yammers through "Mandarin Grin" and "The Let Down" it sounds like he's taunting us from the gallows with a wild grin.
Coincidentally, in homo speak, a chickenhawk is the male variety of what is more commonly known as a cougar: old queen that prefers young ass. There is so much fresh, hot booty in here, Chickenhawk should come with a bib. - Jeanne Fury [8] - Decibel magazine

http://www.organart.demon.co.uk/neworgan281.htm


CHICKENHAWK – Chickenhawk (Sound Devastation) – There’s so much good music being made at the moment, it is getting close to being overwhelming. We’ve been waiting for this one to drop though and we’re pleased to say they haven’t let us down. Urgent schizophrenic discordant alt.metal from the North of England that’s kind of near planet Melvins or maybe the lands of Harvey Milk, Oxes, or Jesus Lizard - extra English grit in there with their sometimes locked-on groove though, something different that you get from absorbing from over here rather than over there.


Nice meaty opening there and off the four of them go from the start – raw riffs, jarring angles, surging, relentless, on your toes and in your face. Sabbath riffs, Black Flag rawness, metal dropped with a raw punkified attitude. Loose production, real feeling, dangerous edge, gritty – and you just have to move with their abrasive groove. A band who aren’t afraid to take a risk and make a mistake along the way, sounds almost improvised, whatever they’re doing they’re doing it right.


There’s a lot of adventurous detail in here, more revealed with every repeat play. Chickenhawk are far too unobvious and far too unconventional to be just a metal band, but then again this just might be the British metal album of the year. Oh yes, that good, a therapeutic scrape across your mind that’ll trip you up and skin you knees - - Organ Magazine, online @ http://www.organart.demon.co.uk

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article5039583.ece

The Let Down by Chickenhawk
Track of the day
Stuart Anderson

TRACK: The Let Down.

WHO: Chickenhawk.

WHAT: Riotous, speedy metal with heart.

THE HYPE: "Singer Paul Michael Astick sounds like he tasers his nads for fun" - Decibel Magazine

WE SAY: Formed as a trio in 2004, the four-piece Chickenhawk specialise in making blindingly heavy metal that makes the ears of anyone within a fifty-mile radius hurt as much as Walter Koenig's did in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan when he put his helmet on without looking. The Let Down features riffs worthy of Black Sabbath, surging bass lines worthy of Rage Against the Machine, frenetic time changes worthy of Soundgarden and raucous vocals worthy of a very big bottle of Tixylix. Other influences include the Melvins, Queens of the Stone Age and Metallica. In short: these guys rock hard. Chickenhawk's musical proficiency is undeniably astounding. Their propensity to rock is undeniably overzealous. Chickenhawk's name is undeniably silly, but who cares when the music is as good as this?


IF YOU ONLY NEED TO KNOW ONE THING: The Let Down sounds suspiciously like Dr Fellatio, the second track of their 2005 EP. Which party pooper told them to change the brilliant title; and is the resulting disenchanted replacement a petulant riposte to said pooper?


WHERE CAN I GET MY HANDS ON IT: The debut album (on Sound Devastation Records) is available to order now through MySpace and also available to pre-order at HMV.


FIND MORE: www.myspace.com/Chickenhawk - The Times Online