Haarp – EP II (Self-Release)
By Jay Snyder
July 12, 2009

Man, I thought the 2007 debut from Nola’s Haarp was brutal; obviously that was just a glimpse of things to come. If the first EP was the equivalent of getting beaten over the head with a telephone pole, the second EP follows up that telephone pole with ten tons of concrete…then a steamroller…get the picture yet?

This quintet is all business and finds a way to splice a little bit of everything into their genre hopping sound, while staying unbelievably fucking heavy throughout. I’ve spotted everything from ultra thick death metal riffing to grueling, detuned hardcore/sludge in the band’s armada. What makes it work is the way the band presents their songs to you, like a writhing serpent on a silver platter; they slowly twist your mind into insanity with riff after riff of downer dementia and then bust you in the nose with a decisive blow of pummeling, double-bass drumming, elevated by faster guitar runs. Although you will find that in the world of Haarp, nothing moves by too fast.

The slimy, landfill dwelling riffs that intro the 9+ minute opening cut “If They Were Men” are frighteningly dissonant and drawn out; akin to a nastier, more slovenly incarnation of Crowbar. It isn’t long till the crack of the artillery rings in the distance and resident vomit master Shaun emits his fetid, belching growl; lending a feral death metal aesthetic to the band’s thunderous, neo-sludge bellow. Riffs consistently warp and fade, like a set of bad acid hallucinations that just won’t go away. Thrusting themselves into a series of speedy lurches, the music nervously tosses between death metal’s furious rage and the nauseous stench of doom left to rot beneath the desert sun! Extra props go to Haarp’s skin basher Keith for being able to effortlessly switch the beat to match the lucid ferocity of Grant and Jason’s twin guitar madness. It’d be pointless to name out every good riff in Haarp’s songs or say how they sound, as this is highly progressive stuff that piles on more changes than you can shake a nuclear bomb at. The ending is particularly memorable though with a duo of noise-rock cum metal guitar solos adding a filth-stricken, Am-Rep squeal to the pulse pounding riffage. Even bassist Ryan lays down an oozing, hyper-distorted bass lick to end the tune, which is rare these days, seeing as how the guitar usually leads and closes a good chunk of material in this vein.

Hot on the heels of “If They Were Men”, comes the crashing hooves and shattering gallop of “Durendal Forsaken”. Creeping in on the fog of night, the opening riffs are powerfully, sparse…raising an air of dread in whatever space you happen to be spinning this lethal piece of plastic in. At first there’s a surreal, almost saddening touch to the mountainous churn; the kind of churn that marries Crowbar’s world weary stomp with the snarling volume and irate vocal spew of Goatsblood. Suddenly the wind kicks up and you are standing in the middle of a raging tempest, whirling with grinding chaos. Aware that speed isn’t everything, the band slows their hurricane of death/grind riffing and stealth bomber rhythms into a swampy, gator groove…that’s almost and I mean almost; a bit bluesy. Haarp really have yet to include anything traditionally groovy in their songs up to this point, so it left a permanent impression when the “up to no good shuffle” came slinking into the room. To shake up the formula even more, the band completely leaves the rails from that point on. There’s another soul wrenching Crowbar wallow, followed by slowed down, melodic death metal tremolo picking in addition to an ending of southern Baptist riff revelations that eventually reveal their own secret, heathen slomo-sludge, alter ego…they literally throw the kitchen sink at you! Hell not just your lone kitchen sink but the neighbor’s kitchen sink, the entire line down at the local Home Depot, the stock in the warehouse…the whole shebang, baby!

Same goes for “Blindsight” whose lead-in riff is another wayward trudge down the spiraling staircase of a schizophrenic breakdown. It is one of those riffs that goes straight to your guts and rips ‘em right out, again loosely derived from the Crowbar genus for maximum, emotional impact but carved from an even harder hunk of granite. A ramshackle burst of speed bridges death metal’s howling vocal exhaust, double-kick ass whippings and relentless riffing with punk’s rhythmic two-step and doom’s burly heft. Haarp weaves in and out of all three distinct styles for the remainder of the track, kicking you in the teeth with a mucky bludgeon and then eroding the slothfulness with a tidal wave of grimy speed thrills. You’ll have no idea from which direction the band will attack next, but will feel the copper taste of blood in your mouth as Haarp gleefully rips your eyes, ears and ass wide open; making you a receiver of their audio death throes, whether you want to hear it or not! Closer, “Mons Sermo Incendia” serves to further everything enforced thus far, with equal attention paid to ravaging, metallic, hardcore/grind and swirling, quicksand doom. The whole affair is touched up with an intro teeming with melodic dissonance, tricky time changes and an absolutely timeless, forward-thinking sludge groove at the 5:24 mark, effectively rounding out another stunning track.

Can someone please give this band a record deal? Along with Thou, Haarp are putting some fresh blood in the Louisiana sludge/doom underworld and have already reached a breathtaking peak when it comes to songwriting. I’ve spun the first EP a bunch of times since it came out two years ago, but I think I’ve spun II twice as much as the first, over the course of just three weeks. When it comes to brutal, uncompromising sludge done up with a unique flair of hardcore (think Cattlepress and Bloodlet), grind and death metal, it doesn’t get any better than Haarp. This EP is a testament to a young career that is going to go far, thanks to some of the most intriguing songwriting around. Even the production on this bastard is top-notch with thick, vibrant tones exploding loud and clear, beneath a wall of the vilest distortion/volume known to man! Those of you, who didn’t get a chance to check out the prior EP, owe it to themselves to pick up a copy of this one. Miss this one and forever kick yourself in the ass, because Haarp are about as good as it gets when it comes to unique, off-putting, hate-sludge!


Visit the Haarp website at www.myspace.com/haarpnola