Simon RushworthHuntress – Static (Napalm)
Genre: Heavy Metal
For a band and a singer that never stands still, Static is surely the most left field choice for an album title. Huntress have rolled out three albums in little more than three years and managed to tour incessantly in between: to describe the fast-rising metallers, fronted by the mysterious Jill Janus, as motionless couldn’t be further from the truth.
Of course the cynics will cite quantity over quality and while Static doesn’t quite smack you in the face in the same way feisty debut Spell Eater or eerie follow-up Starbound Beast managed to do, it nevertheless packs a consistently powerful punch.
The epic Mania – all eight minutes-plus – is what this band is capable of when focus and a no-fear attitude are the only pre-requisites. Fusing sharp bursts of modern metal with Janus’ famous multi-octave vocal range, Static‘s stand out track should be the root from which all future live shows blossom.
Occasionally doom-laden, always doffing their caps to NWOBHM riffage and never afraid to delve deeper into the dark abyss of metal’s murkier side, Huntress have developed a frightening sound all of their own. Janus can scream as loud as the next woman but there’s genuine soul beneath the genre-appeasing posturing.
This polished record may, in fact, be Huntress’s most mature album to date. But with maturity comes a potentially dangerous shift in perception: Janus has built her reputation on a fresh approach to modern metal and can’t afford to be viewed as the increasingly safe – or static – option.
RUSHONROCK RATED: 7/10 Still Rocking