Album Review

This album, HTB‘s first proper full-length after a couple years of plowing away on the touring circuit, is a total and complete mind-meld. Dubbed the pioneers of ‘Nintendocore‘ in honour of their propensity for outlandish, jarring keyboard lines, Horse aren‘t so much anything-core as they are an effort to thoroughly erase the lines between any and all genres; I have a feeling if they‘d found a bassoon and an organ grinder lying around the studio, they‘d have found a way to put those to use. Musically they‘re competent enough, particularly the rhythm section, but the guitar is sadly underproduced; it doesn‘t mesh well at all with the overall vibe.

‘Bunnies‘ would be the lead single from this record if such a thing existed in the underground; the song is the first most kids download based on word-of-mouth, and it‘s worth it, a shrieking, absolutely nonsensical torrent of grating, buzzsaw guitars and low-end thunder, with those berserk keyboards reigning supreme over the madness. Vocalist Nathan shreds on the mic from the word go of opening track ‘Seven Tentacles and Eight Flames‘ clear through to the final expulsion of ‘Big Blue Violence‘, rendering the unsuspecting listener aghast at the ferocity with which he screams his disjointed, almost-comical lyrics.

I‘m not sure what Horse The Band are trying to express, if anything at all, but I assure you of this based on personal knowledge: these guys are not to be missed live, in some cramped dive in Downtown, Wherever. Let the Horse rock your brains.