By Lisa Mary
Reporter Lisa Mary reviews Stone-based heathenBABY’s EP.
The EP was released in December 2013 and as a debut EP, the underDog is a triumph of talent and imagination. It is no stretch of the imagination to say that heathenBABY’s sound is revolutionary and the underDog as an EP is a work of art. Listing their influences as NIN, The Prodigy, Egon Scheile, Steam Punk, Iconography, Bon Scott it is refreshing to hear a band that isn’t trying to emulate or recreate the sound of their icons or their genres; this is something new, fresh and impressively aspirational. The band clearly have a vision and the EP has a rich, visionary sound.
heathenBABY are made up of Allen Kent (writer/creator, vocals, guitars, programming), Paul Holland (drums and vocals) and Damien Felgate (bass and vocals). A clearly dedicated and passionate band, they describe themselves as, “Setting out to feed the souls of a questioning generation heathenBABY attack the mundane rhythm of the everyday with a surreal kick in the b******s.” The spirit of sticking it to the man runs though the EP, starting with the heavily-bassed ‘GodDog’ through which Kent’s voice rumbles. This spirit runs through ‘Dance Floor Sh*t’ with its surreal sounds. Like nothing I’ve ever heard before, its satirical subversion of dance music and its submersion in rock is delightfully haunting. Their talent for the macabre is also seen in tracks such as ‘Remedy’ where a motif of a child’s toy is repeated throughout, with vocals and spoken words being used to create a feeling of carefully-crafted chaos; the melodic nature of both verse and chorus contrasting with the feelings dredged up by this powerful piece. The way in which the sounds are layered raises the heart-rate and it seems to speak emotionally to the listener, with each person having a slightly different experience and reaction to each song.
The experience of heathenBABY is like no other. Psychedelic yet deeply rooted in rock, it seems that these songs not only speak to the ears, but to all senses; this EP is a five-sense experience. Experimental and imaginative, the music transports you into a completely new approach to music.
Bravo, heathenBABY; you’ve blown my mind.