First Impressions

Hooded Menace falls under the banner of groovy death metal, it has a bit of a sci-fi spacey element to it and brings up images of 80’s horror flicks and guitars with the right amount of chorus effect on it to sound cool. Upon my first couple listens I thought of it as good old death metal with a groove, but the more I listened the more I realized there was a bit of a hidden or hooded element that wasn’t getting through to me at first.

Vocals and Progression

What captured me when I first listened to Hooded Menace years ago was Harri Kuokkanen‘s vocals. They’re done in a mid to lower range growl that has a doomy depth to it. It’s been interesting to see the band’s progression from earlier albums which also have a groovy death metal 80s vibe, into a more of a progressive element on this album. Having the majority of the album’s tracks be in the 7 minute range there’s quite a lot to take in. The album felt like it had a hidden progressiveness element that was slowly revealed the more I listened, and I came to realize it’s more than death metal with a groove, it’s an album that takes you on a journey from the 80s metal scene to the graveyard.

Song Structure and Growth

The fact that the songs are in between being your usual structure (verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, chorus) and having more different parts like a one off bridge or a completely new riff for the solo, it almost kept an element hidden or hooded making the menace hard to take in upon the first couple listens. That being said it’s not progressive in the sense of progressive metal bands that are more focused on the technicality of the instruments, but more in a natural growth that has developed from one Hooded Menace album to the next. I mean this in a good way that kept the album interesting and entertaining to listen to but maybe a little hard to digest and internalize at first, but the more I listened, the more the menace was revealed.

Album Highlights

Hooded Menace are a three piece, and in my opinion that’s often where some of the best music comes from. “Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration” is a pretty solid album through and through. It has a cool doomy groove element, and a lot of solid guitar riffs, and shredding solos. My favourite track was the second one called “Pale Masquerade” because of its punch you in the face with heaviness energy when it takes the album out of the intro track and gets things going. I really enjoyed the rhythm underneath the solo, as well as the shredding on top of the groove.

Artwork

I’m always a fan of Hooded Menace’s artwork, the graveyard scene adds to the overall 80s halloween horror vibe of the album. There’s a lot going on, from the gravestone face that’s crying out cloaked skeletons with beards and swords, to the swarm of bats under an evening sky that’s about to rain.

Overall Thoughts

Although I felt the album really flowed, I couldn’t help but feel like it was at times a bit of a compilation of riffs that ran into each other rather than fully hashed out ideas, and that’s probably what made it harder to internalize.

I dug the album a lot, and like it more than their older stuff, so it makes me excited to see where they will go in the future. “Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration” will be a standout point in Hooded Menace’s career, and is a worthwhile journey seeing the progression of the band. I’ve got a feeling that when they do their next album it will be a 10/10.