The Hyena Kill – A Disconnect
Release Date: 5th March 2021
Label: APF Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Alt-Rock, Post Punk, Emo.
FFO: Tool, A Perfect Circle, Nirvana, Radiohead, Joy Division, Chelsea Wolfe, Deftones.
Review By: Jonathon Hopper
Opening with Septic – a one minute forty-eight second slow build of a drone that had me checking that my speaker was connected okay – The Hyena Kill’s second album A Disconnect is unlikely to be prescribed as a ‘pick-me-up’ any time soon.
And things don’t get any jollier once Steven Dobb’s sorrowful vocals kick in on second track Passive Disconnect, a pounding wall of brooding intensity that tells an abrasive tale of twisted torment; of being trapped by circumstances beyond one’s control.
Bleak lullaby Cauterised continues the claustrophobic tone, yet amongst the downbeat offerings there are moments of strange, savage beauty from the likes of Close Enough and the album’s high point – the raw, ethereal Thin, a beautiful, heart breaking ballad that not so much pulls at the heart strings as grips them in a vice until each last vestige of emotion is expended.
It’s a nigh on impossible act to follow, yet somehow single Bleached manages it. The tempo is upped in a blaze of buzz-saw guitars and vein-popping vocals; a furious howl into the void, like ‘Bleach’-era Nirvana jamming with Tool amidst a disintegrating Universe.
Say what you like, this is one honest release. Heart worn firmly on sleeve, the press notes allude to vocalist/ guitarist Dodds being at ‘a very low point’ in his life during the writing of the album. Not exactly a ray of sunshine on their debut album (2016’s ‘Atomised’), the result is a very sombre collection indeed, each note and every bar soaked in agony and introspection.
It might even not be too much of a stretch to imagine The Hyena Kill as a kind of Joy Division for this age, in particular in the way the themes and lyrics bleed through in the songs.
Final song Mire sees things come full circle – me checking my speaker amid a wash of synth-y drone. A challenging, complex listen, A Disconnect is the very antithesis of an easy night in. Bold, raw and unflinchingly honest with no quick fixes, it rewards patience yet may be too much for those who seek the light in a World that can often appear dark and frightening. An album to be admired, if not necessarily enjoyed. 
(4 / 5)
