Drug Honkey [USA]
Death Dub
2008
Full Length
Independent/Diabolical Conquest Records
Experimental
8.0/10
Wow, I honestly have no idea what to say about this album. To the uninformed listener, this could be the very worst and most illogical piece of crap ever written (along with other “nonsense” bands such as Portal and Impetuous Ritual), or easily be one of the most genius piece of art ever.
How do I even start to describe the music (or perhaps to some, noise) itself? From the tortured and insanely distorted shrieks of vocalist Honkey Head, to the intensely trebly guitar tone, courtesy of guitarist Hobbs, to the special, futuristic effects ranging from laser-sounding effects to seemingly random noise, the various elements all mesh together to form this masterpiece by Drug Honkey, their fourth full length album Death Dub. While the drumming by Bonghit Honkey is mostly nothing significant, utilising mostly simple beats, they mesh into the music perfectly, along with the thick and heavy bass line, putting the listener into a trance-like state from start till end. Even when there are times that the band almost threatens to go back into sanity, at the critical point, they revert to their original insane style of music.
The introduction rambling on the live track China Black also certainly adds a small element of humour, before breaking into a jazz-like introduction (and with the beats continuing throughout the song), only to have any hopes of peace and calm crushed by the band within moments, with the whirlwind of different noise effects and the tortured vocals of Honkey Head crushing the last bits of sanity in the listener. Honestly, it leaves me scratching my head how anyone could possibly stand experiencing such music live, yet it’s impressive to hear how Drug Honkey is able to recreate the atmosphere of insanity on the studio recordings under live conditions.
Some albums are said to require the listener to be under the influence of drugs to truly understand the creation, and Drug Honkey‘s latest masterpiece sounds like the perfect piece of art, and at the same time, it makes me wonder how any sane person is able to come up with such music. Fret not though, because this evidently does not mean that it is unlistenable when sober, as shown from the rambling already provided by yours truly.
According to our beloved urbandictionary.com, honkey is a term used to insult white people, and the music proves how Drug Honkey lives up to their band name, while poking fun at this colloquial term at the same time.
Drug Honkey on the internet:
MySpace
Diabolical Conquest Records
©2011 Heavy Metal Tribune | Hong Rui
