HOLY HYDRA

First, check out these lines from the tray insert of "Rise of the Hydra" by Germany's HOLY HYDRA. "This is a song about a lot of broken dreams / this is a song about a broken me / I am what's left and / I am what's blown away." Now add a morose CROWBAR guitar riff to it and a hoarse-throat vocal. You've just gotten the gist of the album. Does it work? The answer is "sometimes", albeit in a retread sort of way.

Call it "doomcore" (as the label does) if you are so inclined, but I find that descriptor annoying and not especially descriptive. I suppose if you refer to CROWBAR as "doomcore", then it makes some sense in the context of a band like HOLY HYDRA. Anyway, the self-loathing "doom", "sludge", and "what have you" on "Rise of the Hydra" is the stuff of down tuned monolithic riffs and melancholy guitar harmonizing and it is not a chore to absorb in a semi-enjoyable way, at least if you're trying. The occasional pace shift keeps it rolling along and a handful of the riffs are workable, even though the songwriting is not exactly big league. The one near-exception is the nine-minute "Until the end of Everything", which shows some level of promise, the weeping riffage and beefy arrangements deserving of a heightened level of attention. A less than stout recording weakens the affair, though still harnesses the abrasive tones essential to the style.

The imitation may be flattering and most would not argue that metal needs to be original to be effective. But when the thought patterns throughout the listening experience keep coming back to "second-rate CROWBAR," you know something is lacking. "Rise of the Hydra" feels like it should be more effective and is difficult to dislike per se, but it falls well short of heavy-rotation material.