Hadea – Fabric of Intention (Mighty Music)
Thursday, 27th March 2014
Formerly known as Gollum, North Carolina’s Hadea re-branded themselves after the passing of drummer Hunter Holland, who was not only the band’s rhythmic backbone, but their founding member. Such tragic events are the mother of necessity, unfortunately, virtually erasing years of hard work and grinding it out, so a tip of the cap to this quartet for finding the means to keep going…and heading down the treacherous path of having to start all over again.
The first product of this new foray is Fabric of Intention, an album that hovers around the now inescapable sphere of Mastodon, who have become so prevalent that their seemingly unintentional influence creeps in, even though Hadea clearly have their aims set elsewhere. The band’s riff motifs don’t have much of a Southern twang in actuality; they’re down-tuned, often burly (see the title track) or done in a bountiful post-manner, like on album highlight “Reconstruction of our Ways,” which charts a nice throng of staunch guitar melodies and driving bass lines. “Source and Creator” is another tune of worth, particularly in its spaced-out, tom-heavy mid-section.
The vocals of Shawn Corbett could feasibly be the main tie back into Mastodon, for his shout-sing is a more of song-server than anything. He’s placed prominently in the mix, so working around his occasional one-dimensional cadence might be the album’s sole stumbling block. The rest of Fabric of Intention, though, is ample, sturdy American metal, practically devoid of any real sub-genre trappings, which will make it difficult to place Hadea. Then again, for a band just getting off the starting blocks again, having a perfectly clean slate in all facets is probably a good thing. Definitely a band to watch for.
