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Shai Hulud: Hearts once nourished with hope and compassion
27/06/11 || Khlysty
You know what would happen if one mixed Linkin Park’s sound with that of, say, any brootal death metal band? A big shit is what would happen. Now, you know what would happen if one mixed the best D.C. sXe hardcore with the most intense elements of pure metal? Shai Hulud is what would happen and if any of the bands that claim today of playing “hardcore” stood in the path of this monstrous band they would be annihilated as easily as the CERN LHC annihilates subatomic particles.
“Hearts Once Nourished With Hope And Compassion” is the band’s first full length and for such an uncompromising and confrontational record, is surprisingly listenable. Floridians Shai Hulud (their name taken from the epochal sci-fi novel “Dune” by Frank Herbert), while keeping the levels of intensity and knuckle-dragging desperation always in the red, manage to write memorable and sensitive melodies, that are as catchy as they are spit-flying angry and angular. Instead of Converge’s full-on chaos, or Hatebreed’s machismo, Shai Hulud tap D.C. hardcore’s rich tradition for thoughtful songwriting and combine it with metal’s dexterity and general sense of perfectionism.
What we end up with are nine perfect hardcore (surprisingly, the band tagged itself as “metacore”; obviously, in 1997, the term wasn’t insulting…) explosions, full of undiluted pathos, brutal energy, heart-rending honesty, hooks (yes, hooks, now live with it…) and great music skills from a bunch of guys that while just outta their teens had already a fully-realized and formidable sound to accompany their thoughtful and thought-provoking lyrics, which took their cues from early emo bands like Fugazi, Nation Of Ulysses or Rites Of Spring.
The songs may sound convoluted on first listen, but they’re always underlined by clearly-defined melodies, mosh-friendly rhythms and desperate, shouted vocals. Plus, for all the seriousness and dark intent of the band, the record closes with the band fucking around merrily, before the listener is hit by one of the most chilling samples ever used in a record: Sigourney Weaver’s last line from “Alien”, the terrifying “This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off”. Goose-bumpy stuff, fer sho.
Bottom line is that Shai Hulud is the place to go if you want a quick and soul-fulfilling dose of metallic hardcore. “Hearts Once Nourished with Hope and Compassion” came out in 1997 and has yet to lose any of its freshness, power and anger. Too bad the imitators never really understood what this “metalcore” thingy was all about. If they had, the world woulda been a so less polluted place…
- Information
- Released: 1997 (re-released in 2006)
- Label: Crisis Records (Revelation Records)
- Website: Shai Hulud MySpace
- Band
- Chad Gilbert: vocals
- Matt Fox: guitar
- Oliver Chapoy: guitar
- Dave Silber: bass
- Steve Kleisath: drums
- Damien Moyal: lyrics
- Tracklist
- 01. Solely Concentrating On the Negative Aspects of Life
- 02. My Heart Bleeds The Darkest Blood
- 03. Outside The Boundaries Of A Friend
- 04. Beliefs And Obsessions
- 05. A Profound Hatred Of Man
- 06. Beyond Man
- 07. This Wake I Myself Have Stirred
- 08. Eating Bullets Of Acceptance
- 09. For The World
