BITCH HAWK Joy

ADRIAN RECORDINGS

Blackened crossover thrash mayhem with a weird pedigree

Who hurt you, Patrik Berger? One minute you’re co-writing Icona Pop’s I Love It, the next you’re playing in a band called Bitch Hawk. The Swedish foursome’s second album pulls most of the same tricks as their self-titled debut, Patrik’s prolapse-inducing bass leading 10 songs of crossover thrash nastiness. There are sprinkles of brilliance throughout, Fred Burman’s vocals channelling Mike Patton as he squeals, ‘Uuuurgh, whose birthday was it?!’ during Optical Character Recognition, and the Cancer Bats-covering-Immortal, atmosphere-choking Kall Värld, its mournful black metal riffs conjuring images of frostbitten landscapes, the Wild Hunt and panda facepaint. The latter song is where they’re most exciting, although Joy’s vibrant and frenetic delivery doesn’t stop to let you scream once. If they just nurture the black metal further next time, Bitch Hawk will lay the grimmest of eggs.

FOR FANS OF: Every Time I Die, Dead Cross, early Bathory

ALEC CHILLINGWORTH