Horseback

The north-americans Horseback return with a new proposal called “Half Blood”, the third album, to be released on May 8 via Relapse Records. When they made the “Ahriman” track available in March I got eager to get the promo material as soon as possible to listen to the entire record. So, now I can describe to you what I felt when I heard “Half Blood”. In a few words I can say this is a trip to an outer-world, travelling through dimensions and psychosis.

“Half Blood” is easily divided in two parts: the doom/70s part which is the first half of the album and the drone/psycadelica part which ends the album with the three-piece song “Hallucigenia”.

The songs “Mithras”, “Ahriman” and “Arjuna” deliver us a beautiful journey featuring slow-tempo drumming and repetitive guitar chords which send you to an imagery of twisted colors floating around your head like some kind of drug trip. I mentioned the 70s side of the band in the paragraph above and this era is personified in the “Ahriman” track with the using of an organ ambience which gives the song a spectacular balance. The voice type is also a thing I fell in love instantly… On top of the musical circles lies the distorted and oppressive growls which make me imagine a muddy guy trying to escape from a dreadful environment. This kind of vocal distortion reminds of Burzum’s Varg Vikernes when he once said that recorded an album with the most wrecked microphone he could get. If someone asked me how to describe what I think about these three songs, in a few words I would easily say: fantastic and catchy.

I didn’t forget about the “Inheritance (The Changeling)” track, I put it in what I called the second part of the album. “Hallucigenia” parts I, II and III close “Half Blood” with an obscure and hypnotic way full of sound waves which go up and down, full of hums and noises and some keyboard pinches. I dare to say that Horseback are The Doors modern personification related to their psychedelic movement – imagine if during the 60s and 70s Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger had access to the musical technology we currently have… Even so they made a hell of a job!

“Half Blood” drives you to a neurological psychosis and launches you to a sea filled with waves that make your body slowly dance with the floating. Don’t try to listen to it if you are passing through a mental crisys… It’s my advice. However, the mind is yours and I love when music drives me insane!

Track List

01 Mithras
02 Ahriman
03 Inheritance (The Changeling)
04 Arjuna
05 Hallucigenia I: Hermetic Gifts
06 Hallucigenia II: Spiritual Junk
07 Hallucigenia III: The Emerald T…