Feast Upon Hail the Titans

Posted by admin on July 19, 2011

BAND: HAIL THE TITANS

GENRE: PROGRESSIVE/EXPERIMENTAL/INSTRUMENTAL ROCK

VENUE: THE ALLEY BAR, MONTGOMERY, AL

There comes a point in every writer’s life when she realizes that there is someone out there who can write and describe things better than she can. Okay, not just one point, but many points, but I digress. In the case of this band, I cannot do better than the review given to them on their Facebook page by the owner of the Squeaky Lizard where they performed this past weekend. The review, as seen both on Hail the Titan’s FB page, as well as on their blog (as written by frontman Josh Carpals), is epic.

“Watching Hail the Titans play is like Epic Meal Time for the ears. Wes keeps throwing out bass lines like it’s bacon fried bacon, wrapped in bacon and topped with a bacon marmalade with bacon bits. Adam makes you wonder if he is playing a guitar, stuffed inside another guitar, with an even smaller guitar pan seared and marinated in a Jack Daniel’s sauce inside of that one. Josh holds everything together like a meat glue, made of pork, beef, chicken, fish, and therakeytardrumbarine. And Trey on drums can only be described as “Cham Pow” tastic. There is no point in asking how many calories your ears intake during a Hail the Titans show – because numbers dont go that high.”

*clears throat* That being said, I shall attempt to create a review at least half as clever as that… Attempt being the key word…

To give you an idea of just how good this band is, the first time I tried to see them, I couldn’t get into the bar because it had gotten to full capacity at least 20 minutes before the show began. I’ve been to several shows around Montgomery and Prattville, and this was the first time I’ve seen a bar get so full that people are standing outside to listen! I made sure that this past week I got to the Alley bar WELL before the band was to start. And it’s a good thing, too. As soon as the first notes of Josh’s guitar began to hum through the air, the crowd rushed the stage. If I hadn’t already moved close to it, I’d have had no luck getting close enough for pictures.

The sound of Hail the Titans pretty much defies definition. The above genre listing comes from their site on the SoundCloud. Those first notes as they began their set, as each member came onstage one by one, lulled the audience in, drawing them to the stage as if they had some magical power. And then, when the four member band was gathered, the sudden sound that issued forth… You know in cartoons where they show characters literally being blown away by music coming from the speakers? Yeah, it was like that. I can’t remember the last time when that force and passion of music came over me so suddenly that I was left gasping for air. Saying that it was powerful doesn’t quite do it justice.

Their music coursed through me like the pounding of my own heart. It was natural, pure and raw. It takes firm hold of you. Just when you think it’s slowing down enough to release you, it pounces on you again, pulling you deeper under its spell. By the time the set was finished, and it wasn’t that long of a show, maybe an hour and a half, I felt as though I had run a race. Which, considering the calorie count described by the Squeaky Lizard, that is a good thing. This is music performed by men who are as passionate about their music as I am about my writing. Hail the Titans manages to not only reveal this passion and desire in their music, but to make the audience feel the same way about it. That, my friends, is a mark of a true musician in my book.

Judging from the current Billboard charts, Hail the Titans won’t be for everyone. There are no catchy lyrics (no lyrics at all) to find yourself singing in the car or shower. Their music shows that lyrics are unnecessary to make music good. If you like instrumental music, if you’re sick of vapid “all about the image and not about the music” music, or if you want to hear something different, something that will resonate within you, then you really must check out Hail the Titans.