I quite often start these reviews off with a link to a Band of the Day article so you can find out a little bit more about the artist. This time, though, I can use the review as a teaser because Higgs Field are coming up later this month in that space!
The Aussie 4-piece have been writing together for a little over a year and Paracusia is the result. I’d drop them into the big box labelled “hard rock” but there’s a definite prog influence in there as well. Not the tempo-changing, mind-buggering drum rhythm sort, but just that proggy feel to their output – more Marillion than Rush, but a little heavier than either.
For your pennies (10 Aussie dollars-worth, at least on Bandcamp) you get seven tracks of toe-tapping, head-nodding loveliness. The sound quality is good, the band tight as a tight thing, and they definitely have a recognisable identity that flows through the whole thing. These are obviously seven songs written by the same band, nothing jolts or seems out of place.
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Having given it a couple of listens it’s hard to pluck out a definite favourite, but the songs that caught my ear most are probably “Increasing Acceleration” for its opening choppy guitar and vocals, and “The Source” which is just a nice, driving piece of rock music. “Deadhill” probably has the best intro and it flows into a great song which doesn’t overstay its 4-minute length.
These are just three tracks in a very strong slightly-more-than-half-dozen though. For a band that’s been together little more than a year, Higgs Field have really gelled well together, if they’re rattling songs like this off.
First impressions are good and the album does hold up to repeated listens (trust me on this). If the heavier end of the prog scale interests you then it’s definitely one worth checking out. All you have to do is scroll down a bit…
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Paracusia is out now
