Reviews Page |
Live ReviewsDeathdoom Productions (Sept 2007)
Three piece hAND have a great deal of talent about them if their three track demo is anything to go by. A fusion of harmonic vocals and soft piano, crafted well around intricate guitar riffs and precise drumming.
Vocalist Kat has a very beautiful voice, and the talent and time taken by the band really pays dividend in the final outcome. This is a pleasure to listen too and definately something to chill out with after a stressful day.
It will be interesting to see what the future holds for hAND, not content to follow the mainstream, here is a band who just play their own thing and enjoy it, and I think you will too.
Devolution Magazine Review (Sept 2006)
harmonic Assessment of Negative Dialogue, sounds like the name of a pretentious Goth band doesn't it? Well quite the opposite is true. Old school Goth is clearly an influence and can be seen in the lyrics dark images and abstract thoughts though it is more pagan driven than vampire, this is put against challenging music that owes more to late 70's Prog like E.L.P.
Vocalist Kat Ward uses the now familiar ethereal voice but manages to create a depth that tends to be glazed over by others employing this style and doesn't stray too far toward operatic, the percussion and guitars are used more to enhance Kats voice than to dominate the sound and the piano tends to drive most of the musical harmony.
If they are this good after only becoming a trio in February '06 then what will they be like in a year or two's time?
God Is In The Tv Zine Review (Sept 2006)
Ok let’s be honest here, you’ve clocked the band name and EP title and you’re thinking of a gothic rock band barely out of their teens with lyrics still mired in youthful angst and goth cliché aren’t you? Well don’t run away, as while hAND do fulfil all those criteria, they’re also a band ambitious and musically talented enough to stretch songs
out to seven minutes without running out of ideas (no mean feat), and their progressive sound pushes at genre boundaries with real verve. In short, this is one enjoyable record.
Ignore the song titles (‘Resurrect the Night’ anyone?) and focus on the music, and you’ll be rewarded, as songs are given real space to breathe. Each goes through several changes of time and mood, and show off a grasp of songcraft unusual for a band averaging 19 years of age. Singer Kat’s chiming piano works well against Kieren’s guitar throughout, with excellent staccato playing from the former in ‘Manuscript’, and superb effects-laden soloing from the latter through closer ‘Clannad Mass’. Kat’s vocal style will be broadly familiar to anyone who’s heard a Lacuna Coil or Nightwish record but retains a softer edge, and while sticksman Cris' style hints he’s happiest playing the heavier segments, he makes the transitions through light and dark flow with surprising grace.
Atmospheric and ambitious, hAND have many reasons to be very proud of this EP and as their lyrics develop with experience to match their musical nous, there’s no doubt they could be something very special, very soon.
Spill Magazine Shadow: Word Pain Review (Sept 2006)
I feel like I've found some discarded highschool Evanescence demo from 1991. hAND are derivative and ponderous but they do inspire a nostalgic burst of melancholy and rage.
The vocals are mature and resonant whilst the guitars wail like the deformed sexspawn of Dave Mustaine and Matthew Bellamy.
Despite each track feeling like ten ideas stuck together with U-hu (which works and fails) it's this unconformist approach to song structure that has me under their spell. There's potential here, I can hear it on the wind.
Rockstudio Review
With only 2 members you'd be forgiven for assuming that any offerings from Sussex based hAND would be shallow and bland (no examples needed), but how far from the truth you would be. With the two amazingly talented musicians covering guitar, bass, piano, drum programming and vocal duties, each song on this 4-track EP is fantastically crafted and truly original. Opener 'Paint' is a great piece of electronic rock whilst 'Do You Know' contrasts with a beautiful piano-led ballad (with epic guitar solo to round off). 'Latin Translation' is a fine little heavier instrumental and closer 'Pockets For Sockets' rounds off with another fantastic piece of piano/guitar tag team class.
Deeply emotional with a gothic tint, hAND produce music that is original and pretty much faultless. Live drums could potentially bring a much fuller sound to the whole production and the vocals sound a bit bland at times, but bar those minor points this is a great EP from a band with a lot still to come. AW
Nick Parsons' Chapters review - West Sussex County Times (Nov 05)
AS THEIR name and logo suggests, hAND are a somewhat mercurial musical entity.
Billed as ‘prog rock with Gothic influences’, the band deliver a luscious sound that is surprisingly created by only two members – Kat Ward and Kieren Johnstone.
You may remember them from heat four of this year’s Horsham District Battle of the Bands competition, where they were runners-up to eventual 2005 champions Jalopy.
Their latest EP, Chapters, features an eclectic combination of styles, pace and delivery, which is at times equally confusing and enthralling.
Opening tune ‘Paint’ subtly plants the seeds of what is to come, but it’s in the formative piano greeting to ‘Do You Know?’ that Chapters really begins to come into bloom.
It’s not long before the Tori Amos-tinged verse is given a mighty injection of glorious noise by Kieren’s overdriven guitar, and this is the cue for the track to build up, layer by layer, to a quite marvellous conclusion.
Next up, the instrumental ‘Latin Translation’ underlines hAND’s progressive credentials by giving Kieren’s fabulously creative lead playing another tailor-made platform upon which to shine.
Bringing the CD to a close, ‘Pockets for Sockets’ goes and lifts the standard even higher, with Kat’s voice – surprisingly deep at times – weaving dark and haunting textures to the musical swell.
Chapters is painstakingly constructed mosaic of vocal, piano, synth, bass, guitar and drum beats juxtaposed in such a way as to make this four-track collection of songs a challenging but ultimately rewarding musical journey.
hAND play at the B’Lo in West Street, Brighton on Thursday, December 15.
For more information on the band visit their website - http://www.handtheband.com.
Infamous T (UKBands.net) Review
PAINT
....hand, hand, the gothic band.....?
...now whilst there are some generaly gothic elemnts here - mosty, i suspect in the nail polish department.... this is one of the most progressive a pieces of music i've heard in a long time...
...something me old mate Phil Mercy of Thieves Kitchen would be proud of....
the intro has an unnervingly poppy aspect to it - and i have always admired anyone that makes silly mouth noises in the background.... but then W T F.... we are off into the kind of Chris Squire style bass lines that one might have heard gracing a 'Yes' album 30 years ago.... and thence off into peculiar time signiture land....
....Christ - its Prog Goth! now i know a lot of people get all upset when music becomes too complicated to play on an acoustic guitar with 3 fingers.... but i cut my teeth on this kinda gear - and i thought it was a lost art!
...there are some totally spectacular lead passages that utterly shred gedit? some of the more arrogant axe wielding metal heads that i have come across of late, to pieces! ...and no i'm NOT saying who...
the drum programming is quite awsome too, being as it is perfectly in sync with even the most outrageous of the guitar fills..... and the bass had the kind of ominous, rumbling depth that can only be produced by a Ricky... (PLEASE tell me it is.....)
bloody love it.....
what REALLY makes this stand out are the vocals....they waft and float about with all the innocence a of Little Red Riding Hood, lost in a dark forest, populated by grotesques with all sorts of dark intentions....
the total surprise, though is that it's Kat, (for it is she....) that provides not only the vocal element, but also the malevolent bass riffage.... and keys too! ...talented girl!
LATIN TRANSLATION
........and from an intro reminiscent of Rush - when they were good - we launch hell-bent into another musical maelstrom....this one urgent.... the playing has an edge.... a quality to it that makes one feel they play as if thier very lives depended on it.... an instrumental this track - at least there's no singing yet...... and it's a total collage of styles that even veers on occasion toward the Maidenesque....
phew.... knackered just listening to it....eee if i were younger i'd want to play drums for this lot... but at my age i'd have a tingling sensation in me hANDs half-way through the first track!
....totally original.... a right royal corker of a listen and quite totally against the flow of pretty songwriting... there should be space for ALL kinds of music in EVERYONES collection.... and if you've never had your brain turned mushy just thinking about how others can play something so intrinsicly complex - then HERE is a good place to start!
awsome!
(...think i'll have to breack out the ol' black nail varnish..... it's bin a while.... but, then again....perhaps not lol!)
Profile hAND
Published by InfamousT
http://www.handtheband.com
Taranis Productions reviews Chapters
"Their songs aren’t structured in the traditional sense of the word. The best way I can think of to describe what I heard is to imagine the structure of a dream..."
I was very interested in hAND when Kat Ward, (vocals, keyboard, and bass), contacted me a few weeks ago as she described their sound as modern rock with gothic influences, and when I learned that this band consists of just two members including Kieren Johnstone, (guitar and programming), I became all the more intrigued.
They’re hard to define that’s for sure, what I heard on this 4 track EP, "Chapters", isn’t exactly ‘Goth’, but it isn’t exactly ‘rock’ either. The music is pretty electronic in parts and reminded me of the 80s electronic rock trends you would regularly hear when computers were first introduced to many bands in the studio at that time, yet Kat Wards vocals keeps things organic in the sense that she brings an element of raw innocence to each track, complimenting this bands instrumental style. In a nut shell the instrumentals are note perfect, but her voice carries Kat to wherever she wants to go resulting in the two opposite elements colliding in order to produce some intelligent and creative tunes that you wouldn’t have heard before, or at least not all at once!
So onto the music, I thought this CD was gorgeous all in all. Their songs aren’t structured in the traditional sense of the word. The best way I can think of to describe what I heard is to imagine the structure of a dream where things don’t necessarily flow, but the experience remains relevant and inspires emotion. What is surprising to me is that I wasn’t left feeling confused by the unique way they have structured the songs; instead I was completely drawn in by it.
An example of the above is opening track "Paint", as the listener it doesn’t lead you one way or the other, but that is what's so great about it, and very clever indeed! "Do You Know" changes pace and begins with a beautiful piano introduction that carries the song right the way through and was my favourite track on the CD. Kats vocal style is an acquired taste but I like it, this duo are an extremely original outfit and the vocals are a huge part of this.
Then they go and hit me with "Latin Translation" that opens with a Latino style guitar solo, (the only Latino moment in the entire song I might add), that delves into a much heavier sound. This song is an instrumental orgy and shows off Kieren’s riffage ability to full effect. I thought including an instrumental was an inspired idea and showcases the duos musical talents in a no frills approach.
Finally we have the debut single moment entitled "Pockets For Sockets" which takes all the elements found individually on the previous three tracks and puts it all together in one neat little package, also introducing some jazz sounds with the piano composition. hAND is diverse and I dare you to define the music as I couldn’t, and I’m looking forward to seeing this band evolve as the years go by. At this time they offer us a raw and unique sound that I hope they develop even further.
Mick Mercer's Chapters review (Sep 05)
(Mick Mercer is the author of several publications including Gothic History and Punk History, has a daily journal, a free download magazine called The Mick and regularly writes reviews for bands).
‘What’s wrong with Genesis or jazz?’ vocalist Kat Ward asks in an e-mail, following my flippant remark about their influences. Nothing, of course, apart from the Genesis part, and that influence is not noticeable here. They’re so young, this duo, they’re probably into everything, as their music bubbles with diversity, and I didn’t notice any of the Gothic undertones mentioned in the press release either. Clearly absorbed in their music they have astonishing potential.
Let’s concentrate on the songs first. ‘Paint’ is a perfect opener in showcasing their juicy jumble, as there’s deliberate drag on rhythm, thick and raw bass, the odd jangle from guitar and pleasantly naïve singing. The guitar frequently cavorts happily in background as the twinkling and trundling combine over an exciting rhythm track, although it’s a bit too busy burying itself, and cooing vocals floating ghost-like over the top aren’t well produced enough. That’s just their equipment, and the unnecessarily stodgy feel can’t drag down any of their weirdly interesting ideas. Vocals are fairly timid initially, but quietly charming. (‘Would you die in a bass note’)
It’s Kat Ward on vocals, piano and bass, with Kieren Johnstone beavering away on guitar and programming, and in ‘Do You Know’, a lovely bass and piano thing, words are gradually enticed out into the open with gently guiding guitar, and they do it again. It’s a lovely feel and flow, where the boldness of their compositions is clear, and it really works too. The guitar pours on, the rhythm is intriguing, because the piano becomes the bass, with Kieren wrestling his guitar impressively as the two main instruments weave together.
‘Latin Translation’ hints at fiddly Metal muso bombast, but only slightly, and the way the song assumes a fiery form is ludicrously impressive with guitar ringing out above a real grumbly bass beneath. Rich, bleeding tones encapsulate their drive and verve and when it eventually blunders briefly into a rutting rock trough that’s okay. Then ‘Pockets For Sockets’ starts slowly swirling around languid piano, bass buoys it, the guitar does a drunken damselfly dash, as atonal vocals drop and roll. They keep the spiky feel going and the pace constant before they let the intensity fly for several minutes before ending in a light jazz caper.
So yes, there’s not much to dither over, other than occasional flat-sounding singing or constipated levels. It is a fine debut, and this pair are going to be coming out with some astonishing music, make no mistake about that. The duo aspect will make it hard for them, and I presume they know this, but if they find like-minded individuals round their area and fill out into a band they could do brilliantly.
If I was working on a local paper I’d probably end by saying you have to hand it to them. Luckily I am not, wrist assured.
http://www.handtheband.com
Review by First Subject (firstsubject.co.uk)
To be honest I've not really kept up with what's been happening in the land of Goth for many a year. As a musical movement it has kept its head well and truly down since the commercial success of the Sisters of Mercy and the Mission way back when. What I have mostly found is that many of today's so called Gothic bands believe that the visual style was invented by the creators of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the music tends towards the user-friendly sound of the Sisters of Mercy (version 2) and the Cure ..... er ... No!
The hAND's gothicism is drawn from further back in time than the mainstream shenanigans of the bands listed above (which I think deteriotrated into a personal battle if wits between Eldritch and Hussey - much to the detriment of the movement they helped create). They remind me of the original Sisters of Mercy - we're talking tracks like 'Alice' here, and the first release 'Temple of Love'. They also remind me (a lot) of Siouxsie and the Banshees - not so much the sound but the style of their songs - the way they are
created from lots of small ideas that come together to form a much larger and more powerful soundscape and aural image.
Go listen to them .... Kieren, the guitarist is excellent and Kat produces a moody vocal to accompany the sparse, yet powerful instrumentation. If its three-minute pop songs you want - try one of GD's bands - that's not what the hAND are about. But for great musical imagination and something to take your mind 'elsewhere' for a few minutes you could do a lot worse than listen to this band.
"The Scene" Interview (Jul 05)
Being the dedicated mod and northern souler that I am, a band describing themselves as a modern rock band with gothic influences formed from an eagerness to produce something different hardly appeals to the music snob in me, but credit where credit is due, West Sussex outfit hAND seem to be ticking all the boxes as far as supplying hard hitting goth music is concerned.
The band has a new EP out. Entitled ‘Chapters", the CD is a 20 minutes showcase of the bands creative outpouring and comprises 4 very different tracks of Gothic outcry: Paint, Do You Know, Latin Translation and the intriguingly titled Pockets for Sockets. All these tracks are available to download from the bands website, which has recently undergone a make over or fans can buy the CD (including plastic case, full-coverage printed disc and four-page insert) for £3.