#hjortene

New song from my band Hjortene: Our cover of the Creedence Clearwater Revival song “Bad Moon Rising”

So since all my reviews were taken down from the original hosting site over some risque wording on my last and final review for them, I figured it only fair to the bands in review that they have access to the positive words somewhere on the internet. Not that many people will see them here, more of just a place to stash them. Here were my words about this killer record by some heavy rockers from Copenhagen, Denmark called Hjortene posted originally back in early April:

Hjortene are a stoner punk band from Copenhagen Denmark. Much like fellow Danes 'Pet the Preacher' they crank out some hefty tunes if I might say. 

 I can't confidently tell you the correct pronunciation of the band name. Is the H silent is the J a real J sound or a J as in Jose. I guess I'm leaning towards Jose with the H-j combo, regardless it doesn't really matter because the album opens fast and furious like Jose or Hose B fleeing straight across the border heading towards greener crops. The bar is set in preparation for a punk rock assault with guest vocals from Sir Valient Thor himself.

Speaking of greener crops, the sweet leaf aroma on song two lays down the stoner foundation which supports the slab of heavy punk rock. The bass is tuned down heavy and low with a fuzzed out punky energy floating high like a kite on a cloud of bong smoke. Hjortene keep an upbeat pace with an invigorating punk rock tone to their baked distortion. The drumming shines from beginning to end as well, accentuating the fuzz just right. I get a bit of a Fu Manchu vibe as the album progresses forward which is never a bad thing.

 Classic Rock FM doesn’t sound like classic rock by any means. It spews out a desert riff much like something off the Truckfighter’s Gravity X album or something. Just a fuzzy base line set to a simple tone incorporating multiple languages in the vocals. I couldn’t understand everything on this record but what I did recognize was the supreme ability to chug out a groovy riff.

Epic Indian grooves away instrumentally much like Brant Bjork churns out the wicked grooves on much of his solo outings. For most the remainder of the record we get massaged with a pleasant stoner rock exhibition going back and forth between desert groove and monster energy. The clear highlight of the album comes in the last 9 minutes.

 Canada brings forth a super psychedelic and atmospheric experience blended in with the skilled stoner fuzz. The song features Lorenzo Woodrose from the band Baby Woodrose on guitar, which seems to make a difference and honestly for my taste the entire album would have benefitted greatly if Lorenzo took part on each and every song. Canada is a masterpiece of a heavy stoner song and heightens the success of Hjortene’s debut album.  I would have to say Hjortene showcase a promising debut with their self-titled. All in all, the entire album builds nicely towards the impressive finale at the end. The bulk of the album gets a bit repetitive in spots, which seems to happen the more bass heavy riffs a 3-piece gets themselves buried into, but it’s okay because the repetitiveness is a good sound and who doesn’t mind repeating a good thing. The guest appearances are probably the stronger efforts on the album for my liking, not discounting the virgin band members at all, more the fact that the guests that helped them out did exactly that. They helped them out and possibly the band learned a thing or two from them. Overall the album was a success and I quite enjoyed it, and recommend it for fans of heavy, bassy and fuzzy rock and roll. Like I said, the closing track incorporates much more of a psych twist which I would have liked to hear throughout the whole album.