By: Chris Ball
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Released on April 22, 2016 via Independent
With a more stable line up has come a more regular release schedule for London’s noise grandees Hey Colossus. If your desire for new material has risen exponentially, then you’ll be happy to welcome this new track ‘All The Humans (Are Losing Control)’ along with a couple of alternate versions of songs from previous album In Black and Gold.
‘All The Humans (Are Losing Control)’ continues the sound pursued on their last album, a more restrained, less punky attack than previously heard, with an almost emotionless vocal delivery over a funereal dirge of heavy synths and monolithic bass. With a melody which curiously echoes the garage-psych classic ‘How Does It Feel To Feel’ by The Creation and a lyric that seems to be a robotic report of a man’s demise it’s a typically odd affair. It’s Marvin the Paranoid Androids idea of a victory anthem.
‘Black and Gold (Version)’ follows the same rutted furrow as Earth, being a post-rock, doom metal incantation: ponderous yet widescreen in its depiction of desolation. Hey Colossus are heading into superior film soundtrack territory here, and the final track is even greater proof of that. ‘Wired Brainless (Version)’ has a John Carpenter-esque vibe of creeping dread in an alien landscape, with an escalating amount of dissonance like sparking and faulty wiring aboard a darkened spacecraft. If you haven’t heard the original version it will certainly have you craving possession of it at the earliest opportunity.
So not just a nod to the future, but a sterling advertisement for the bands recent past, I think Hey Colossus can consider their dark works to be done.
