Huata – Open the Gates of Shambala EP

Huata are a French band formed in 2006 who after many line-up changes have finally settled on a stable line-up in 2009. The band is made of Carcinos (guitar and vocals), Vkng Jzz (bass) and Coco (drums). Member Vkng Jzz is also plays in other French bands including The Arm Of The Dirty Rabbit, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs. They play deeply distorted sludge doom in the vein of Electric Wizard, Church of Misery, Coven, Pentagram as well as Weedeater, Earthride and Ramesses. The music is hardly original but its real good powerful stoner doom metal and the lyrical is provocative to say the least. The subject matter includes Josef Fritzl and his Hitler youth, necrophilia, the destruction of the world and even some reference to the killing of hippies. The band is promoting their releases on myspace and offers their debut 2009 EP as a free download, click on the link on the bottom of this review and you will find the download embedded in the header of their page. The ep was Russian label Quagmire limited to 66 tapes. It was also distributed in France through the label Throatruiner records. The ep is supposed to be pressed on CD but its still available as a free download.

Huata is a Celtic, Breton word, one of whose meanings is "hunting witches" so that gives you some idea of where this band is coming from. The band is already getting a reputation for being a incredibly loud live band and the songs on here are made with excessive volume in mind. The guitar sounds are thicker than molasses especially the bass which is one of the heaviest bass sounds i have heard this year. The riffs are all built around huge amounts of fuzz and distortion but its not all slow doom, some of this stuff simply shreds in a stoner doom kind of way. The overall sound is pure vintage but pushed to the limits of sonic depravity, if Church Of Misery had of existed in the early 70's, they might have sounded like this. The production is dirty and raw, this type of production would hurt most bands but its suits Huata just right. There is no weak tracks on here, they are all great tunes but "Josef Fritzl Syndrom" and "Alchemist Reborn" stand out as being classic tracks. It is interesting that within the wall of sonic bliss they create there is also some strong melodies trying to push through although you may not notice it as the sound is so crushing at times. Its all over in about 30 minutes and it will leave you devastated, fans of Church Of Misery will love this. This was recorded over a year ago so a full length album can't be far away, i can't wait to hear what they come up with. If its anything like this, it will be one of the albums of the year. 9/10

UPDATE ~ This was released in 2009, not 2008 as originally stated. Also Coco is no longer in the band - Ed

www.myspace.com/huatastonerband