Another release that’s been snaking around the losing today record shed for much longer than
we dare own up to - (damn feel real bad now) - is this colossal six track outing from London
based quartet Heat From a DeadStar. Gruelling stuff awaits those who dare enter within. Already
proud parents of one previous self titled EP from early last year (which sadly we haven’t heard
but will be in the course of the coming days will be tracking down to have, hold and call our own).
Okay the not so important bits - Heat from a DeadStar do not move one iota any of the generic
umbrellas under which they happily seek refuge - however what they do and do well is make a thickly
swamp like brew of cerebral throbbing ear wear that’s been culled from varying genetic rock pools
such as math, progressive, gore, post punk / rock and shoe gaze. Similarly styled as singled out
favourites the Arm (whose current release ‘He builds bombs’ is still holding our hi-fi to siege) HFADS
though not as volatile and freewheeling create doom edged apocalyptic instrumental sound structures
that are tightly locked down with an undeniably fraught spiked intensity and honed with an eye watering
rigid precision, "Dyslexics" with its austere jangle cuts ever deeper rhythmically, see sawing splinters
lacerate and jab as it moves apace hermetically sealed in its own gnarled and unrelenting heads down
no nonsense grind. "Scarlet Eagles" follows in quick succession adopting a curious early career Killing
Joke ’Chop Chop’ hue, the tension this time staggered by stop start quick slow dragging dynamics that
belie an almost symphonic symmetry the technique utilised again on the soaring "Downhearted" its as
though the Pixies had formed an allegiance with latter career Magazine. Elsewhere "Black Swans" slows
the pace to gut wrenching levels, the riffs ever more swollen and ravaged almost like a lightweight
Jesus Lizard in playful mode. So its strange then to find slap bang in the middle of this collection
the remarkable upbeat and uplifting "Being Less Than Being" with its rough at the edges early Cure
dynamic though arguably being dragged backwards and screaming for dear life through a forest of skin
piercing rose bushes and swirling whirr like backdrops with early Comsat Angels hooks being used as a
delicious side serving. "From Nowhere To Nowhere" wraps up the set and probably provides the ensemble
at their most out there being split into two noticeable movements, initially weighted down with a
gruelling grunge like armoury sounding not unlike a totally recalcitrant Tar its all the same
bloated and carved with an eerie austere edge of the type where you can literarily feel the
temperature noticeably dropping around you that perhaps suggests kinship for ‘Minus 8’ era
Left Hand. Yet 3 minutes in the whole landscape alters dramatically as it trails to an
inevitable finale very much kitted in the more claustrophobically enhanced macabre like
atmospherically hollowed sound scapes that adorn the less schizoid moments of Siouxsie
and the Banshees’ ’The Scream’ and with that - more please."
Mark / Losing Today
Spun into a tight groove of progressive indie rock with noisy ambience and daring mathematical
changes, the United Kingdom’s Heat From a DeadStar hope to prove that experimental rock can be
very listenable. The guitars offer a hook every now and again but often it’s a zealous underpinning
of distortion and artsy wailing. The drums are frantic and often seem as if they were wrought in
a sweat-filled nightmare.
The production is brilliant and I can’t wait to hear more from this talented trio.
Jason / Smother Webzine
What a mysterious band this Heat From a DeadStar is Prck, Ph. And Rzn create dark, brooding
instrumentals that perfectly accompany the blurred nighttime cityscapes that grace the album cover.
"Lighten Our Minds" begins with gorgeous chiming dissonance reminiscent of early Sonic Youth before
quickly shifting into bubbling atmospherics resembling a meteor shower. Throughout the EP, guitars
bend and buzz and dance around each other while underneath a distant drone adds a healthy dose
of paranoia. The drums rumble, surge and plod along wonderfully...
No bother, it's still a fine slab of instrumental intricacy that gets better each time I listen to it.
The prefect accompaniment to your next futuristic daydream.
Indie Disco Webzine
[Compared to the first EP] "Lighten Our Minds" songwriting is more mature and more nervous and
this is highlighted by the first EP's track: the incisive "Dyslexics". The sharp instrumental mastery
allied to the complexity and the singularity of the harmonies that get more and more powerful all
along this EP make the noisy and experimental rock of Heat From a DeadStar be a emerging
reference.
Emmanuel Hennequin / D-Side Magazine
The magic trio back after only eight months for the ever difficult second output (it is so easy today to
feel jaded about a band failing to expand on their style by incorporating new elements while retaining the
very essence of it). So did they succeed the test? The answer would be definitely yes as they strenghten
the solid impression generated by EP1. The 6 pieces here ebb and flow between math, noisy, rock,
shoegazing, post-rock and new wave even more easily than before and bear a strong personality.
HFADS should never incorporate any type of vocals since the music is self sufficient to carry any
desired feeling. Such a band decidedly brings a blaze of fresh air on a rather saturated field.
Yan / Times Of Grace Fanzine
An artwork that remains intentionally blurred, sparkling and hypnotising nighttime citylights...
"Dyslexics" starts in this nebulous and shadowy atmosphere somewhere between Godspeed You!
Black Emperor and the Math Rock of Hella we enter the demanding and puzzling musical universe of Heat
From a DeadStar close to the Shoegazing, the sound of this trio coming from London is inimitable
and reveals a astonishing maturity the off-putting Scarlet Eagles may certainly disconcert a few
ones, but no disappointment with this piece of experimental rock, exclusively instrumental and
undeniably innovating a fascinating and amazing musical experience.
AureliO / W-Fenec Webzine
From UK, London, a power trio curving on aerial postpunk guitar riffs, new-wave buzzing
melodies, and rumbling drums with energetic solos. Their after-taste for 80s indie music sound
textures calls a special austerity metabolizing 90's instrumental post-rock structures and
black-tinted futuristic soundtracks, hybrid at its best on "Black Swans" (a memory for noisy
guitarrock of Unwound and A Minor Forest).
Paolo / Inkoma Webzine
An intriguing mess of cosmic guitar lines, rumbling bass and post-rock throbbing that will no doubt
loosen your dentures and create mass panic in the streets of London-the songs structures limber on
and keep growing until it's almost impossible to remember the journey, which is great for random
adventures on the circle line, with only your walkman for company! Think Juno meets Mogwai...
Jeremy Chick / Subba-clutcha Webzine
The set is more supported now, more controlled. Each piece starts directly and plunges us in a moment
of fury... Serious, their music can also propose some smiling experiments as shown with the sardonic
guitar in "Being Less Than Being". Epic, their work can thus federate various publics, from air-guitar
to the headbanging, the progressive or even to the No-wave (fabulous " Downhearted"). And where other
instrumental groups left side a part of the public because of the vacuum created by the absence of lyrics
the trio builds an inhabited music. Easy to share then.
Sylvaïn / Obsküre Webzine
The first couple of tracks last just three minutes a-piece, but in the capable hands of this instrumental
trio, there's more in them than on many similar sounding band's albums. "Dyslexics" features echoed guitar
lead above rivers of bass and crunchy drumming... "Scarlet Eagles" virtually continues where the last one
left off, again more chiming, searing, laser-kissed electric guitar leads...- superb. "Black Swans"... almost
reminiscent of something like Earth only more intelligent and varied - a totally awesome track that just leaves
you wanting to play it again. "Being Less Than Being" is probably the most "upbeat" track on the album with a
more expansive, less oppressive feel. A similarly four minute 'Downhearted' is more intense but also features the
most melodic lead so far as even this twists and turns, The album ends with the six minutes of "From Nowhere To
Nowhere"... - the river of bass, the buzz-saw guitar in the distance, the closing intensity of droning guitar
textures and the ever rising rhythm section...
As triumphal a twenty four minutes of instrumental Indie-esque guitar-led music as they come, and things continue
to rise - can't wait to see what they turn up with next!!
Andy Garibaldi / DeadEarnest Webzine
Intelligent, refined, dared, this EP is promising... the absence of lyrics always allows a total
immersion in the music of the band, which seems to have found its style and its way...
Waiting for the album, cheers.
Anthony / Scar[e] Culture Webzine
Evolving in an experimental rock noise universe, Heat From a DeadStar puts on some retrofuturist
sounds and compositions. There is, I find, something calling the 80's, surely some obscure reference
that gives to this astrorock a sad and worrying aspect specific to certain coldwave bands. ..
Marko / L'Echo dans la Plaine Webzine
Already from the first notes of "Dyslexics", it's clear that Heat From a DeadStar is not the average Punk
Rock band. Hints to The Cure are mixed with influences from early Sonic Youth's dissonance and The Mars
Volta's futuristic approach to indie. It's clear that this band isn't afraid of experimenting in the realm
of Rock music and that's a good thing...
Semtex Webzine
For this second EP... a lot of work has been done on the production, with a particular focus on
the guitar's notes which are now bright and incisive... The melodies thus become more powerful
("Being Less Than Being") with the different effects (generated by the bass or the guitar) adding
to the density of the sound...
If "Dyslexics" and "Scarlet Eagles" are somehow recalling the first EP, the band has also taken
the time to let us discover the several aspects of its music still difficult to describe:
e.g. "Black Swans" with its lazy rhythmic...
Waiting now for the first album of this promising band...
Progmonster / Guts Of Darkness Webzine
As in all very good groups of instrumental rock, the musicians are complementary, understand themselves,
vary the rhythms, superimpose sound textures and melodies (with a really nice balance between all the
instruments). For this part it is successful... However the short format of the titles prevents a further
development of the atmospheres. Alright, it's fresh and light, with a pleasant rock feeling, sometimes
jazzy, but I would have liked more than that. Perhaps with the experience, the group will be able to give
more, but for the moment this EP represents more a hope to see the trio better doing.
Hallu / Violent Solutions Webzine
Evolving in Coldwave-coloured post-Rock'n'roll instrumental world the band invites you to a rather experimental
trip still accessible though and even quite attractive. The main influences (acknowledged by the group itself)
of this record have to do something with My Bloody Valentine, The Cure or Godspeed You Black Emperor.
But don't wait for a formatted 80'S-type come-back. The music of Heat From a DeadStar is modern and innovative
enough to only pick up the best of its influences ("Dyslexics", "Black Swans"). Musically impeccable, technically
spotless, the musicians Prck Parker (Guitars, Keyboards), Ph. Gerber (Bass, Keyboards) and Rzn Schtark (Drums,
Percussions) are clearly enjoying themselves, alternating heavy riffs ("Scarlet Eagles") and atmospheric bits
("From Nowhere To Nowhere"). "Lighten Our Minds" is an EP surprisingly mature and inspired.
It is the second opus of Heat From a DeadStar so let's hope that this instrumental Rock'n'roll is literally going
to take off and to reach the higher spheres of the experimental music. That's the worst we can wish for them...
Jaynesis / Les Acteurs De L'Ombre Webzine