CoC : Harkonen - Grizz : Review

Harkonen - _Grizz_
(HydraHead, 2001)
by: Paul Schwarz (9 out of 10)

A big, dirty, bassy, riff-drive kicks off _Grizz_'s eponymous opening track, but though the song continues to bludgeon and drone in simplistic rotation, Harkonen's instrumental execution and rich sound assure that they are not merely palmed off as another average band flailing in the wake of noisecore/metalcore's primary tidal wave generators. There is a cohesion present on this EP that you rarely hear. The songs are all be essentially simple on -one- level, but Harkonen can make more from less with the best of them; throughout the dissonance, the melody-mangling and the frequent occasions when the three-piece choose to 'rock out', an effectively dense and ever-enticing atmosphere is retained. Whether it's the noisecore-for-stoners stylings of "Kildow's Song", the Speedhorn-esque stomp of "Thunder Appeal", the mutilated garage punk dirge of "Townache" or even the mad-jammin', Kylie-plundering -- you listen to the main riff that enters at 2:04 and tell me it's not "Locomotion"! -- finale, "Hey You Millionaires, Get Out of That Garbage", Harkonen always deliver the goods with style. Definitely a band to watch.

(article published 1/9/2002)