I must say that HDKs System Overload is an interesting album. Although I don't love it, there is still a lot to like about it, and it is an album I am glad to have experienced.
I am not quite sure I knew what to expect upon entering this pact, I was certain it was going to be metal, but what I did not expect was the tight musicianship and first rate production.
The album cover seemed to indicate heaviness with a little touch of a technological side, perhaps a bit like an uncontrolled Fear Factory. In some ways, this is what I got. The metal with a side of tech is definitely there — what is different is the level of control that the musicians exert over the songs, which is considerable.
HDK — the band was originally called Hate Death Kill — have created an immensely calculated and planned collection of heavy metal. With machine-like precision the drums beat out their pre-planned patterns, keeping the songs surging forward, and never becoming repetitive.
On top of that are layers of guitars that proceed to bash your face in with their brutal rhythms, counter-balanced by a few melodic portions. Add some bass to keep things chugging along, some atmospheric keyboards, and a variety of singers and you get a record that you will be able to listen to over and over, each time with a slightly different experience.
In the course of looking into HDK's origins, I learned that they are not a band, but a project. More specifically, this is Sander Gommans' project. He is the former guitarist for After Forever, a band that recently broke up. It appears that Gommans was looking for a way to express himself following his burn out in After Forever.
Article comments