Shai Hulud - A Comprehensive Retrospective
Apparently, Shai Hulud have become one of the most influential bands in hardcore punk music. Having survived many a line-up change, they have gained respect and adulation amongst their peers for continuing to maintain a constant stream of good quality music, despite their in-constant line-up.
A nice idea for an album we've got here, see we're talking about a collection ranging from the earliest of the early demos, to the livest of the live sets. When first looking at this collection I was a tad confused to say the least. The title was perplexing enough without even glancing at the twenty four, that's right twenty four, tracks on there. Quite frankly I wasn't really looking forward to the prospect of listening to them, and I’m sorry, but I had reason to be vexed. To be honest, I’m quite annoyed at having to review this, as it's just not my bag, BUT I’m fully aware, as my ears are not too shallow not to respect that to a person who likes this genre of music, they would think this rather great. All I personally can hear however, is a mass of string crunching riffs and throat segregate screams. "This Wake I Myself Have Stirred" does conjure up a bit of salvation with the good beginning riff, but other than that I just do not hear a song with anything that makes me want to listen, nothing special or enticing to keep me holding on, to make me turn my head and take notice. As I said earlier, my ears are all wrong for this music, but to me, each song just melts into the next, one angry scream after another.
However you do have to admire these guys for their energy, you can't say that during any of the 1-hour' and 5 minutes' that this collection lasts, that they let up on that virtue. But is that enough to make a memorable album? Am I really going to find myself thinking "boy that band I heard last week whose name is another word for a sandworm really had a lot of energy didn't they?!"?
I think not.
"Shai Hulud" have actually disbanded now so I hear, and another band has been formed out of their charred remains, but after this listening experience unfortunately I for one won’t be in any hurry to acquire any of their new material.