May 15, 2012

Hung - 'Hung' Review



After listening to Hung's self-titled debut album, the musical feature which lingered most prominently in my mind was the violin. Coincidentally, this New York melodic death metal band was started by renowned violinist Lyris Hung (the band's namesake). She trained at Juilliard and Columbia University, and has performed with Bryan Adams and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, among others. Hung came to life in early 2005, with the addition of Jon Clark and Sam Roon. Dmitry Kostisyn joined as frontman, and drummer Kenny Grohowski joined after the band went through a few drummers. Hung is not the band's actual debut release, instead it is their first release on an official label (ReThink Records, as well as The End Records).

An acoustic instrumental track begins the album. Titled Eos, it is a hauntingly beautiful combination of soaring violin, acoustic guitar and a little bit of banjo. Desert of Sad gallops off into a lively melodic death metal track. The violins complement the electric guitars very well. Some bubbling guitar notes come just before a catchy clean singing chorus. Other tracks also contain a mixture of clean and harsh vocals, often with both death metal and black metal harsh vocals. This mixture sounded somewhat random at times, but otherwise added interest to the songs. A solid rhythm guitar line provided a great base for the lead to weave around the music, and the drums were the engine of the song. The next track, Maria, sounded quite similar to Desert of Sad. Upon multiple listens, I found that Maria had a slower drumbeat. This song has a juicy bassline and some good riffs.The end of the song has some catchy riffs, as do most of the songs on this album.


Slower interludes among the gallopy rhythms give the songs breathing space, and also prevent them from being monotonous. Track six, Left For The New Life, clocks in at 12:08, yet doesn't feel as long as that because of the interesting tempo changes. Matter of the Blood is another epic (7:01) which avoids tedium. An acoustic and electric guitar duet opens this track. The sound gradually builds in intensity, with the addition of rising violin notes, and a progressive rock sound. Just when I thought this track would be a prog rock number, marching drums and harsh vocals arrived, taking the song in a different direction. The slow interludes in between faster rhythms don't sound abrubt, and work very well.

All the instruments on this album have their standout moments. Recently I broke out of my habit of paying close attention to the guitars only, and as a result, I have found some memorable bass riffs and drum patterns. Drummer Kenny Grohowski does much to drive the songs on this album. He also adds in some interesting patterns, like on Evil Tsar, and goes thrash-like on Sediment of War. Jon Clark and Sam Roon create layered guitar sounds, with a good amount of counter-rhythms. I enjoyed the solos and riffs too: the high-pitched solo on Progeny dances across the soundscape, while the lead guitar wails on Left For The New Life. Progeny also contains an Opeth-like intro with delicate-sounding acoustic and electric guitars. As I mentioned in the beginning of the review, the violin is a prominent feature on Hung. It soars, drops down into darkness and enhances the emotion of the guitars in particular. Lyris Hung is clearly a top-flight violin player.

Hung sounds a bit like it has been done before, but it still has brilliant moments. I enjoyed listening to this album; I felt that the songs told interesting stories, both through the lyrics and the music.

MetalSucks.com is streaming the whole album here: http://www.metalsucks.net/2012/05/07/exclusive-premiere-hungs-self-titled-album/
Find Hung's official website here: http://hungrocks.com/