Based in Southampton in the UK, Hummune is a trio that play a form of groovy, down tuned metal that culls from the likes of Helmet, The Deftones and such but with just a dash of more heavier tones of groove era Gorefest (Soul Survivor/ Chapter 13) , Machine Head and it very heavily recalled recently reviewed act, Encrust.

The 11 tracks are armed with a huge production with a massive bottom end that rumbles with real heft. The songs are mostly mid tempo lopers and lurchers and the vocals are a distant, gruff roar akin to Jan C’s  (Gorefest), less death metal throes. It’s pretty enjoyable, simple stuff, and certainly worth a listen for the production alone, but the song’s never really stick with you when the album is done.

Though Crafted in Darkness might not be extreme enough for the a majority of readers of this site, it will appeal to those that look for little respite from blast beats and cavernous growls. The steady deliberate rumble of the album has a massive low end presence and never really strays from a plodding, at times almost doomy but still thunderous pace. And therein lies the album’;s downfall – the whole affair seemed stepped in a lethargic stupor, where none of the tracks peak or climax of get out of the plodding rut and never delver anything more dynamic. Only “Bullets”  or closer “Era” seems to inject a little more life  and variety into the overall hefty fugue.

Otherwise, I enjoyed the throbbing base and chug of  the likes of “Moth”,  “Into Dust”, “Rust”, “Claw” and “Crush My Heart”, especially on any sound system that allowed the low end to really pulse. However, I can’t say that I’m either riveted or blown away by some of the really down tempo grooves. They are just relatively enjoyable and certainly I’ll be interested to hear what this trio kicks out in the future, especially in the song writing starts to get up toe the same impressive level as the production.

[Visit the band's website]

---

Comments