Hokum are German. Now, the Germans do two kinds of heavy metal: very good or very bad. I'm not sure what it is in the Teutonic waters, but they don't tend to have mediocre bands. Hokum are a four piece formed back in 2000 in Munich. Having released a demo and EP previously, this is their first album proper, and they certainly haven't skimped in terms of ambition, drive or execution.
This is complicated music. I have to say early on that normally “Progressive” as a prefix in any kind of music is generally short hand for “shite pretentious wank” in my mental vocabulary, but Hokum have managed to avoid that on this album. Pi is a work of intricate musical arrangements with strong jazzy influences, particularly in the dexterous bass playing and abrupt time changes, all built around a solid thrash base. The marriage of thrash metal and oblique, non-linear songs is something that hasn't really been attempted since the early days of Atheist. My intense dislike of so-called Jazz-metal fusion is such that I never really liked Atheist or Cynic too much back when they were both releasing music, but luckily Hokum never lose sight of the fact that they are first and foremost a heavy metal band. The guitars sound heavy but have a lovely clear tone thanks to the warm production, while the drums sound clinical and precise and sit nicely in the forefront of the mix. The bass is writhing and unpredictable, while the vocals are hoarse yet not quite growled, being perhaps comparable to latter period Cancer in timbre and tone. Taking fifth track “The Dawn of Change” as an example of their music, a rocking guitar solo and spoken word intro gives way to a dizzying, jazzy verse where the drums absolutely pound before giving way to an unholy mix of thrash guitars and almost death metal bass lines. It's all pretty original stuff, and certainly a pleasant change from the hordes of wannabe bands who seemed to get signed to labels at the drop of a hat these days.
This isn't necessarily an easy listen because of the complicated nature of the music, but then as we all know those things that are easily listened to are also easily ignored. Pi demands that the listener invests some time and effort, but that is going to be rewarded by an ongoing enjoyment of a rewarding album. If you want to listen to simple riffs and straight forward arrangements, go back to those old Coal Chamber albums you won't admit to having bought in the mid nineties. For those of us who don't mind thinking, this is one of the most intriguing and downright mind blowing releases of the year.
Oh, and that was a whole review without mentioning my favourite Pi is chicken and mushroom. Ah, bugger.
http://www.hokum.de
http://www.myspace.com/hokumheadquarter
