With a song style of abrupt and crushing riffs, their many underground shows during 2003, saw them achieve valuable airplay on Totalrock radio. By the close of the year the band agreed a deal to release a debut album through Psychophonic Records.
A short Midlands Tour and track inclusion on a Psychophonic Records compilation, "Kill your managment 5" was a great start to 2004 for HEAD HUNG LOW. After the last date of the tour, work was underway to
record their album. Being a completely self reliant and hardworking band their
energy and enthusiasm is captured on this record. Audio Killing Spree is the
result of the first goal HEAD HUNG LOW set themselves. A long schedule of
touring backed by a major advertising campaign is the planned route through the
closing months of 2004 and into 2005, whilst behind the scenes work is well
underway to write and record a follow up EP with new drummer Adi Green who's had
to replace Rod Coleman, who's called a day on his playing career due to a
persistant knee injury.
The long awaited debut album AUDIO KILLING SPREE is a must for fans of hardcore metal and will be available from the 22nd November 2004.
Powerplay Magazine (Issue 82)
Review by Mark Greener
This should be the shortest review in Powerplay history: stop reading and buy this CD. Now. That’s all you need to know. But I doubt if Mark would welcome such minimalist reviews.
If I haven’t read the press release, I’d swear that Head Hung Low oozed from the swamps south of New Orleans or Tampa. In part, “Audio Killing Spree” is reminiscent of the sludgy bass of Superjoint Ritual and Down, fused with the death metal growls and razor sharp riffs of Morbid Angel or Death. In fact, Head Hung Low hails from Nottingham. And “Audio Killing Spree” contains elements drawn from our home-grown grindcore heritage - Napalm Death, Extreme Noise Terror and Mistress – alongside the influence of Exploited and Crass era punk. “Audio Killing Spree” is a fusion of all that’s best in hardcore, grindcore, punk and death metal. A ‘Scum’ for the 21st Century. Uncompromising heavy. Ball crushingly brutal. Musically superlative.
Some of the riffs and licks, for example, are infectious as Ebola. And how the hell they manage to stay together during the numerous time signature changes is beyond me. Other extreme meal bands should check out their rhythmic complexity and weep. Head Hung Low raises the bar in extreme music. Amazingly this is Head Hung Low’s first full length CD. Even more remarkably, they produced and funded it themselves. Yet it sounds like an expensive professional production job.
Head Hung Low could be to hardcore what At The Gates were to death metal. “Audio Killing Spree” is absolutely unique in the hardcore, extreme metal genres. Too melodic for pure grindcore or noisecore. Too metal edged for pure hardcore. Too punk in attitude for death metal. No one else is creating the sublime brutality of Head Hung Low. No one else is fusing the various elements to create extreme metal perfection. Put simply, “Audio Killing Spree” is one of the most important, one of the most innovative extreme metal CDs this year.
I played the album five or six times in two days and didn’t tire of it one iota. I’d play something else and want to hear it again. I just couldn’t shake some of the tracks from my head. The bloody thing grew on me and entangled my musical sensibility as rapidly and as tightly as Japanese Knotweed. My album of the year, bar none. Just buy it. Now.
10
Metal Hammer (Issue 135, Jan 2005)
Review by John Doran
Sterling Brit metal debut!
NOTTINGHAM-based quartet Head Hung Low skulk with violent and sinister intentions at the death metal end of Metalcore Town. Sounding like Morbid Angel and Killswitch Engage in a concrete mixer, they hide behind street corners brandishing broken bottles and tyre irons waiting for people who have got lost and have wandered over by mistake from Eighteen Visions Avenue and Ill Nino Boulevard. So "DEAD (The unnamed person)", - reminisscent of a "South of Heaven" era Slayer intro, blast beats into Chimaira riffage and growling worthy of Unearth's Trevor Phipps. There's little in the way of respite on this album (only "1,000 Careful Owners" contains what could be vaguely described as singing) but like sticking your head into a carrier bag full of amphetamines, inhaling deeply and stepping into a boxing ring; pure unadorned brutality isn't for everyone.
7/10
Feedback (Issue 82)
Review by Kev Rowland
This is not music for the faint-hearted, this is (as they say on their press release) “brutal energetic uncompromising hardcore metal”. It is some of the most ferocious stuff that I have heard coming out of the UK, and although they supposedly hail from Nottingham they sound more as if they have come from New York by way of the Bay Area. This is hardcore mixed with extreme metal in a way that may not be to everyone’s taste, but if you want your music to be in your face with vocals that can only loosely be described as such then this is for you. They kick up an unholy racket that sound as if they have been listening to Slayer but then decided to mix it up some more.
Not all of the riffs are at one hundred miles an hour, and there are plenty of moments when they could almost be described as doom, but it is the mix between the genres together with this passion for metal that comes through and makes this an interesting mix. As the band say on the CD “For best results this sound recording should be played at a volume your family and neighbours could describe as ‘unnecessary’”. For a self-produced debut album the sound is good, but I wonder what Colin Richardson or Andy Sneap could do with these guys. Well worth hearing.
Raw Nerve Promotions.co.uk
Review by Paul
After a few weaker sounding metal CD s in the review pile in the past few days, I was hoping for much goodness from Nottingham based four piece Head Hung Low, and after an opening riff that reminds of Dismember and a vicious distorted vocal ala early Machine Head and Gutworm, things were sounding very promising indeed.
There is a huge explosive tension lurking throughout DEAD as it chugs out sharp shards of disgust and then thrashes out hate. Some parts don t flow too well but there are a few big riffs that make up for that. Rock, Paper, Scissor, Machete fairs much better and isn t far off death metal intensity in places with a few off kilter moments thrown in and plenty of triplet chugs that is more than necessary! Throughout the rest of this, the intensity levels climb.
Ashes, bones burnt to dust is a thoroughly harsh, evil song with nasty chords, monstrous chugs and scything vocals. Some brilliant, original sounds in this one and Heart is broke, 666 my life show off Head Hung Low to have plenty of potential to become one of the leaders of the UK extreme scene in the future. In fact, the latter mentioned song is definitely a marker for the weird originality on show (although the title is terrible!).
Cross Lamb of God, All Shall Perish, Gutworm, God Forbid with touches of Pestilence and Konkhra for the all out harsh brutality level indications.
I shall certainly keep my eye out for this bands progress in the coming months.
Learned Robb's Pit Of Doom
(Learnedrobb.co.uk)
Review by Robb Hitchin
Extreme. Metal. Extreme Metal. Yup, extreme metal is alive and well. And if HHL are anything to go by, the extreme keeps getting better. 'Audio Killing Spree' is easily the most brutal cd to have caressed these ears in a hell of a long time. Brutal is almost to gentle a word to describe the aural assault that is inflicted upon those brave enough to listen to this cd.
HHL are another sucess story from the Psychophonic label. Self funded, self produced, and full of self belief, 'AKS' is the sound of the underground (groan!) spewing itself into the air, all bile, venom and hate. The music itself sounds like Killswitch Engage, but more, well, brutal. Sorry, I keep going back to that word.
Im not gonna pick a fave track, as this cd truly works as a whole.
It reminds myself of the energy that surrounded the early Grincore releases...... which is a fucking great thing.
Rating: 5 Fiends
Buy it now.................!
Rockstudio.co.uk
Review by AW
This is an album that needs to be heard at ear bleeding level to be truely appreciated. Mixing the grinding brutality of Halo/Palehorse, with the atmosphere of Cult of Luna and the technical riffage of KSE/Chimaira, ' The Audio Killing Spree' grabs you by the throat and spits in your face, an unrelenting tidal wave of mosh-pit-inducing intensity. Claiming that the songs sound very alike to each other wouldn't be unjustified, but thats not the point, Head Hung Low are part of a new breed of extreme underground UK acts and as long as the scene keeps churning out bands like this, noses will continue to be broken in pits around the country, awsome.
8/10
Musketeer of Death.nl
Review by Emillio
On the debut album of UK’s Head Hung Low we get a blend of almost every brutal style in the metal-scene, with a major portion metalcore and death metal. Still you can discover slices of noise, punk and grind. It’s all violent and brutal and spreading anger, mostly in mid-tempo with some dragging slower parts . Often the dragging rhythms change into fast electrifying musical outbursts of anger. This all created by some shrill punishing angry guitars, devastating pounding drums, carrying bass parts and angry brutal vocals, screams and grunts. HHL takes control over you for 36:48 whether you want or not. And don’t make yourself illusions, you won’t be able to free yourself for this period. And the strange thing is, you will push the play button again. A damn good album and already one of my favourites of this year.
