Finland's Pshychedelic Rock act Death Hawks was founded in 2010's Spring by vocalist Teemu Markkula of the band Seremonia (who are signed to the Svart Records imprint) as a project to arrange and record some songs which he had written, but soon enough the interaction with the other musicians made him want to come out with the music through live performances. These turned out to be pretty intense, and soon created a buzz about the band which resulted in Death Hawks being signed to the GAEA Records label.
So far the band (currently consisting of Markkula on lead vocals and guitar, Tenho Mattila on keyboards and sax, Riku Pirttiniemi on bass and providing backing vocals, and Miika Heikkinen on the drums) already saw the release of two full-length albums, and two singles culled from 'em. First came the debut full-length Death & Decay, in February 2012, from which the single Humanoids was culled (released in early 2013). The self-titled sophomore full-length (this one) was preceded by the single Blind Daughter Of Death, and is the only audio track off the new album you can listen to in the “Music” section of the band's own website (www.) deathhawks.com, alongside 4 songs off the debut (and a remix version of one of them). Still, in the “Video” section of the same site, you'll also find the official video clip of the new album's closing track “Black Acid” (of course alongside more stuff)...which is a cool 9-minute track in which you'll hear a mixture of slightly tribal drums/ percussion, Kraut Rock influences with the use of both sax and organs, as well as freaky sharp guitar bits, and Jazzy repetitive bass...the whole flavoured with vocals which sound quite exotic and give the music a somewhat Latin touch. Could almost have been written by Santana in its most psychedelic period, except for the fact that the latter were never this freakishly pshychedelic (hey, and the combination of any derivations of the words “freak” and “psychedlic” is always a positive thing, you know! In all the other songs, you'll find the singers use a very correct English...and then, there's the two instrumental shorties, which in a way stick out like a cherry on the icing. In the first place, of course, because they're different versions of the same track, entitled “Cain Go Home”. Impossible not to compare this to the better music of Ennio Morricone's Western movie soundtracks period!
In written words, this band may sound like a pure retro thing, but really, Death Hawks' music is timeless, and one only needs to listen to the material made available on the band's website, to convince oneself of the fact, that here's an outfit with an album which will be featured in the year-lists of many a Psychedelica-loving music fan...count me in, by all means!