Gig Review: Hadees Drudge
Hadees Drudge were our featured band at HiViZ JamZ on the 21st April 2022 and we went from one extreme to another from our previous band, Valley Kids; both in look and most of all, sound! We love a challenge here at HiViZ, and our talented sound man Thomas Te Taite relished the chance to wrangle the beast that is … Hadees Drudge!
Drummer Jordan Hotton arrived with his absolutely gorgeous AA Meinl cymbal array and I knew “we waz gunna need ear plugs” in the room. The gig was fully designed and mixed for our livestream audience, but I was keen to be part of the small live audience in-house to give the band some love, and to experience all aspects of the show.
We dressed the room by rolling back the ‘magic curtain’ on the back wall revealing a stark black theatre-style curtain, giving it a very old-school look, like a dusty theatre, and bathed the room in red light. With the Hadees Drudge banner hoisted, and Jason Keeler’s line-up of shiny ESP guitars, flanked by Chris Ewers’ beautiful Euro5 LX Spector bass, the room was really starting to look the part.
And so, the stage was set, and it was Lights – Camera – Action! Actually … it was Action – Lights – Camera, as it turned out, due to a slight miscommunication from Reef during the countdown, but that was on us. The boys were rearing to go and were straight out the gate, in more ways than one! The energy was great and vocalist Duane Frew held us captivated with his dark brooding stage presence.
Their style is an intense fusion of prog rock and metal, soaked in heavy grooves, technicality, and a mix of melodic and growling vocals. There is definitely an old-school vibe to their sound, and chatting with the band afterwards it’s clear that a lot of the band’s influences do come from the old school of metal and rock. A very different kettle of fish from todays hyper-technical almost video game-style of metal that is evolving, but far more accessible and more hook for the ears, in my personal opinion. It’s metal that non-metal listeners can enjoy! And that I did.
Wait For What is one that stood out for me. I absolutely love the melodic change up at the finish, it’s simply beautiful. (We have it mis-labelled it as the start of the next song, our bad!)
I experience music at an emotional level, and I hear a lot of emotion throughout the set. Intensity, pain, self-doubt, foreboding, longing, courage, and underlying all of that; strength.
To The Devil Inside of Me has an unusually funky bassline and drum beat for a metal track. Opening with a delicate and emotive guitar piece, going into a tense build-up, then bursting into a surprisingly danceable and fun verse, followed by a hard-hitting chorus. I had to ask Jordan what the name of the song was for future reference, but I didn’t hear the first word and I thought oh great, now I have to say “I really like The Devil Inside of Me”. That’s going to sound weird in the review!! I like the simple, catchy, guitar solo that tells a story too.
The intro to the final song Watch Me is another highlight of the set, and I sincerely hope that our viewers will be listening through good stereo sound, as you need to truly appreciate the fullness of the chorus-synth effect that Jason is using here.
The band look great on set and each member is fully animated and bringing the energy. Duane did a good job of speaking in between the songs, and I know they were all a lot more illuminated than they possibly would have liked, but that’s just how it has to be for filming. Great bunch of guys to work with and they were well-rehearsed and tight. It was certainly an intense experience for me and one I will always remember.
Please check out the full livestreamed set here.
Review by Cathy Elizabeth.
