If a band named HERDER is promoted with the term „Herder is harder“ it better delivers the goods. I mean, there are tons of bands who’d be weaker than HERDER, if that sentence speaks the truth. Tons of really, really hard bands. But restraint certainly never was a prime feature of this Dutch outfit, and so the expectations towards the band’s new EP Horror Vacui aren’t exactly low.
Horror Vacui is the band’s third proper release and definitely focuses on HERDER’s strength – which is to reign the world with riffs hard as steel, an absolutely skull-smashing rhythm section and the most abrasive vocals Europe has offer at the moment. It’s hard to pin down what discerns HERDER from other bands sloshing through the bottomless swamps in the nether land between Sludge and Stoner Rock, but HERDER have this one secret ingredient that sets them apart from the whimps and posers who’ll have to leave the hall right now.
Sure enough the guitar work is really excellent. Not only is there not one single bad riff on Horror Vacui, the leads and solos also proof that there ain’t no noobs handling the strings. Tempo changes within the songs are placed wisely and make sure that you feel like getting dragged through the mud by a badass motorcycle-gang. And better beware of HERDER when they’re slowing down – getting hit by a sledgehammer feels nice compared to that experience. But it’s not just that HERDER’s music is so incredible heavy, it has also this very gritty, menacing and dirty feeling to it. It’s like watching Rambo and The Evil Dead simultaneously on the same screen – resulting in the strong need to punch somebody in the face and wetting yourself at the same time.
Horror Vacui is a flawless record. I mean, there’s a reason why HERDER played this year’s Roadburn fest just a little more than two years after coming into existence. I strongly recommend you to check out Horror Vacui and the complete back catalogue to convince yourself that as a matter of fact HERDER is harder.
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