Description

Us pressed music cassette. Yellow cassette with red text. Limited 300 copies

Fresno, California’s Haunt along with the doomy Beastmaker, is one of Trevor William Church’s two main Metal projects – at the moment. I say, ‘at the moment,’ because with the pace of Church’s writing for both bands, I can see the prolific shredder and vocalist coming up with a new band and another album by next Wednesday. With the benefit of a home studio, Church released a total of ten EP’s under the moniker Beastmaker in 2018, with another coming out just about a month ago. His traditional Metal project, Haunt, just released their second full-length, If Icarus Could Fly, and a B-sides EP, Mosaic Vision. Church’s idea is to take advantage of the all-access digital age in which we live, and take fans along for the ride, releasing groups of songs as soon as he completes them. While I applaud the transparency, the big question becomes, does quantity rule out quality? In the case of “If Icarus Could Fly,” the answer is a definitive “No.” At eight songs in barely thirty minutes, the songwriting here is taut and efficient. There’s no messing around, just straight-to-the-point melodic Heavy Metal. Album opener “Run And Hide” feels like a breakthrough with its vivid pop structure and DIO-esque we’re-in-this-together chorus. It’s a good, old-fashioned, all-inclusive rally cry, which marks a change from the subdued introspection that marks a lot of their past work. Among traditionalists, Haunt aren’t as acrobatic or thrashy as Sweden’s Enforcer or as speedy and deranged as Finland’s Ranger. Perhaps, the best comparison can be made to Canada’s Cauldron, who similarly steer towards the more melodic mid-‘80s period of bands like Dokken and April Wine. Tracks like “It’s In My Hands” and “Ghosts,” border on ballads, with Church’s sighing delivery giving shades of melancholy even in the songs’ heaviest moments. For fans of the traditional Heavy Metal sound with an emphasis on melodics and harmony, it’s hard to get better these days. While Church has a remarkable ability to emulate his heroes, he also shows a deep understanding of all the moving pieces that made those classic songs resonate, which is why Haunt, to me, is in a different class. If Icarus Could Fly shows an incremental, but still noteworthy evolution of the band’s sound, signalling that there’s even greater things in store for those who follow along. I look forward to what next week will bring!

Track list:
1. Run And Hide
2. It’s In My Hands
3. Cosmic Kiss
4. Ghosts
5. Clarion
6. Winds of Destiny
7. If Icarus Could Fly
8. Defender