#intronaut — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #intronaut, aggregated by home.social.
-
Howling Giant – Crucible & Ruin Review
By Dear Hollow
Howling Giant occupies such an odd place within its scene. The Nashville collective is stoner metal and psych rock to the core in an energetic way that recalls the down-and-dirty acts like High on Fire or Mastodon, but layers of melody and creative chord usage feel progressive a la Intronaut or Baroness and the triple vocal harmonies are catchy yet evasive, not unlike Torche or Helmet. They also don’t take things too seriously, with a solid sense of humor and a relatable relationship with fans to bring their formidable technical skill to earth.1 Now a release removed from the formidable debut full-length The Space Between Stars and even more from the Black Hole Space Wizard suite, Howling Giant proves their worth once more.
To address the elephant in the room, Glass Future saw Howling Giant’s progressive tendencies flying their freak flag too much. While attempting to keep the stoner murk and reconcile it with aptly crystalline melody, the band lost what is so great about them: solid songwriting. It’s completely contrary to what gave them the edge over genre mates Sergeant Thunderhoof in their dueling split – their head-first dabbling in more elusive chord progressions felt like a more stoner-inclined dime-store version of Intronaut’s Habitual Levitations. This is what makes third full-length Crucible & Ruin so refreshing:2 it’s everything you love about the Nashville now-quartet – and more. The template of killer riffs, soaring choruses, searing solos, and stoner haze is amplified by new guitarist/synth player Adrian Zambrano – adding layers and textures to Howling Giant’s already winning formula.
Howling Giant feels reinvigorated with Crucible & Ruin. Songwriting prowess on full display, the kitchen sink of riff, solo, melody, and catchiness has never looked so clean. While some remnants of Glass Future hang around in more evasive chord structures and emphasis on melody (instrumental “Lesser Gods”), the tracks shift from the anthemic to the kickass, rounded out by the understated Helmet-esque triple-vocal attack – a potentially divisive element of Howling Giant’s sound –3 and that warm stoner haze. Chunky riffs dominate and add a jolt of energy (“Hunter’s Mark,” “Beholder I: Downfall”), while anthemic choruses and transcendent chord progressions take listeners to a psychedelic heaven (“Archon,” “Archivist”). Southern fried bluesy vibes a la All Them Witches also grace the vibe with a backwoods atmosphere (“Beholder II: Labyrinth,” “Melchor’s Bones”), paying homage to their home state of Tennessee. All assets culminate in the two parts of “Beholder,” the Phrygian key giving them a more epic and grandiose feel.
With the addition of Zambrano, Howling Giant has never felt so fleshed out. Compared to the flashy vocals and melodies of Sergeant Thunderhoof, Howling Giant has always been a meat-and-potatoes type of band, but Crucible & Ruin finds the band building upon this template using more versatility in its musical arsenal. Layers of melodic overlays grace rhythmic punch a purpose and intensity (“Canyons,” “Scythe and Scepter”), the tasteful balance between the melodic and the skronky add intrigue and madness (“Hunter’s Mark,” “Archon,” “Beholder I: Downfall”), and ethereal atmosphere is built atop and duels with more downtuned riffs and bass (“Lesser Gods,” “Archivist,” “Beholder II: Labyrinth”). The dueling guitars add a much-needed and ridiculously tantalizing dimension that takes Howling Giant’s already solid sound to new heights.
Howling Giant’s vocal approach of hyper harmonies will remain a divisive element, the central riff and spoken word of “Melchor’s Bones” can get a bit repetitive, and instrumental “Lesser Gods” is a bit questionable, but don’t let that distract you from the fact that it’s the band’s best album to date. Crucible & Ruin distills everything that makes Howling Giant great and beefs it up, weaponizing their already formidable songwriting with Zambrano’s melodic and textural synth and fretwork. Featuring riffs upon riffs with complex songwriting that doesn’t fly over listeners’ heads, relatable vocals that don’t lose their punch, and new guitar work that takes the band to new heights, across a forty-eight-minute runtime that zips by, it’s hard not to bob your head. While comparisons to Mastodon, Baroness, and Anciients are fair, Howling Giant is its own beast, an intersection of stoner haze, riffy intensity, and melodic taste. Crucible & Ruin caught me by surprise in the best way, and is sure to appear at year-end.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Magnetic Eye Records
Websites: howlinggiant.bandcamp.com | howlinggiant.com | facebook.com/howlinggiant
Releases Worldwide: October 31st, 2025Show 3 footnotes
- Even their artwork was created by guitarist/vocalist Tom Polzine’s mother, Susan M. Davies, who has contributed artwork in the past. ↩
- Fourth full-length if you count Black Hole Space Wizard, Part 2 in its qualifying length. ↩
- Their ubiquitous harmonies remind me of the post-hardcore band Cry of the Afflicted. ↩
#2025 #40 #AllThemWitches #AmericanMetal #Anciients #Baroness #CrucibleRuin #CryOfTheAfflicted #Helmet #HighOnFire #HowlingGiant #Intronaut #MagneticEyeRecords #Mastodon #Oct25 #PsychedelicRock #Review #Reviews #SergeantThunderhoof #StonerDoomMetal #StonerMetal #StonerRock #Torche
-
By Dear Hollow
Remember when hardcore was, like, hardcore? Wolves does. The generically named yet tongue-in-cheek UK hardcore gang makes antiestablishment music cool again, but not in the tired way. It’s not the noise-and-noise-only approach of early punk’s darlings Sex Pistols or Black Flag, but it ain’t pop-punk’s catchy anthem either. It’s jerky, jagged, unhinged, and doesn’t give a fuck about your feelings – it’s angular!1 But it’s also melodic, heartfelt, and overwhelmingly sincere. Calling out fascism and nationalism and the assholes who tote them, while getting personal and vulnerable with themes of parenthood and heartbreak, Wolves offers a scathing forty-eight minute romp through both the unfriendliness and melodicism of hardcore’s storied history.
Wolves is hardcore in a traditional way, but that doesn’t forego on experimentation. The quintet at its core recalls the hardcore fury of Gallows or Verse in their punky politically inclined foot on the gas, but they toss in a generous helping of post-hardcore, healthy cup of mathcore, and a drizzle of post-metal into their stew of titles. Furthermore, four out of five members are also vocalists2 and panic chord abuse runs rampant alongside a groovy swagger. It recalls Every Time I Die, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and Poison the Well without committing to them completely, creating a hardcore album that rides neatly on the borders with intensity when needed and thoughtful melody when the situation calls for it. Both bolstered and hindered by their four vocalists and a gratuitous runtime, Self-Titled is math-curious, -core-furious, and genre-spurious debut LP.
Wolves justifies its lengthy runtime with some tasteful experimentation. While the backbone of tempo-abusing furious hardcore punk, a hefty amount of melody adds a heartfelt ache to the tracks (“All or Something”), while post-metal’s dirge-like hypnotism appears to slow things down in a far more somber and dreary tone (“New Liver, Same Eagle”). These moments can be hit-or-miss, however, as the more Intronaut-inspired expanses that rely on clean vocals fall drearily flat (“A Stolen Horse”), the bluesy riffs can grate after so many reiterations (“A Guide to Accepting One’s Fate”), and the more chaotic mathcore faithful can derail the otherwise interesting grooves (“Nicaea to See You (To See You Nicaea)”). Furthermore, although the melodic nature recalls the yearning moments of Counterparts or The Ghost Inside, the four-vocal attack does not bode well, the fry vocals feeling particularly grating against the layered plucking (“All or Something,” “A Stolen Horse”).
Thankfully then, the bulk of Self-Titled is one hell of a beatdown romp that toes the line between its influences in a relentless blend of mathy and groovy. Wonky panic chords and dissonant technical sweeps courtesy of The Dillinger Escape Plan add a desperate and unhinged dimension (“LEECHES!,” “Emergency Equipment”), while bluesy swagger that recalls the heyday of Every Time I Die makes riffs sound “yuuuuge” against the backdrop of blistering hardcore tempos, resulting in some seriously mosh-worthy content (“Thirteen Crows and One Pigeon,” “The Rich Man and the Sea”). Second track “Reformed (Try Love)” is of special note, that while its groovy riffs are rad, the spoken word callout is the most hardcore thing I’ve heard this year, calling out those who are “one step from Nazi propaganda” and nationalism-flirting politicians, businessmen, and influencers, British and American: “Mate, they don’t give a fuck about you, but you′ve let them whisper in your ear… ’cause it′s easier to hate than to look in a fucking mirror.” In Wolves’ words, “Christ, what a shower of cunts.”
Wolves’ Self-Titled is all about balance, as their unapologetic brashness blends surprisingly well with their tongue-in-cheek vibe and vulnerable melodics. At its core, it’s a math-curious hardcore romp that fits neatly alongside the likes of both Gallows, Botch, and even Stray from the Path, so it’s easy to forgive the overloud vocals, mediocre cleans, periodically gratuitous repetition, and album length. When its experimental edge succeeds, it’s a home run, but that’s not the star of the show – its political edge and weaponized mathcore influence will rip you a new one. Wolves is here to make sure you’re not “duped by absolute scumbags” and have a rip-roaring time doing it.
Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Ripcord Records
Websites: theycalluswolves.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/theycalluswolves
Releases Worldwide: September 5th, 2025#2025 #30 #BlackFlag #Botch #BritishMetal #Counterparts #EveryTimeIDie #Gallows #HardcorePunk #Intronaut #Mathcore #PoisonTheWell #PostMetal #Review #Reviews #RipcordRecords #SelfTitled #Sep25 #SexPistols #StrayFromThePath #TheDillingerEscapePlan #TheGhostInside #Verse #Wolves
