The Hyena Kill - A Disconnect

Shades of Deftones, Tool and Helmet flow – Kerrang! (4/5)

Truly a breath-taking piece of work - Noizze

Primal rock fury with hypnotic ethereal passages – Metal Hammer

An Exceptional album – Spectral Nights

A raw exploration of personal struggles and trauma – The Alt Club

The swarming guitars create an enveloping post-rock vibe – Distorted Sound

Heavy, glittering, guttural – Birthday Cake for Breakfast

Satisfyingly rich – The Soundboard

Raw, feral and brutal – Moshville

One of the most satisfyingly rich and simultaneously wide-reaching rock albums of the year – The Soundboard

The results are devastating…in the best way possible. A Disconnect is a huge step up – At The Barrier

Bold, raw and unflinchingly – Metal Epidemic

A Disconnect is a triumph - Invicta Magazine

Songs this good simply demand to be heard”. - Astral Noize

A potential standout of modern alternative heavy music – Heavy Blog Is Heavy

To describe these three quarters of an hour as an emotional roller coaster would be a gross understatement – Demonic Nights (8/10)

The Hyena Kill's new album A Disconnect is a bleak, intense masterpiece that attempts to find reconciliation of personal trauma and pain, creating a distinctive area where spaciousness can be heavy and contact is always uncomfortable.

Steven Dobbs (vocals / guitar) explains: “The bulk of material was written during a very low point in my life, and as a result this album fell into place with a sense of claustrophobia and finality, of being trapped in a hospital bed, linked up to life support, unable to regain your own agency and escape the situation you find yourself in. Of being bound by the traumas of the past that you’re unable to cast away, and ultimately feeling suffocated by them. Wanting to escape and be absolutely anywhere - or anyone - else. These are lyrics that deal with and focus on uncomfortable subjects that were dominating my life at the time of writing. The words and movements in this record are mostly without resolution. There are no happy endings or moments of clarity.”

The result is an album that presents a dichotomy of softness/harshness with an earnestness that never relents over the course of ten tracks, but becomes transformative with repeated listens. Brimming with emotion and at times ethereal wonder, Dobbs’ vocals are extraordinarily impassioned and present whilst Lorna Blundell’s drums offer relentless dexterity with a wild, dirty earthiness. With each track comes the chance of an emotive journey to the extremes of existence, there’s a real push-pull between each musical element as Sam Jones’ razor riffs explode like fireworks, flooding the room with light whilst Charlie Seisay’s driving bass underpins each vast soundscape. Elements of Deftones, Nirvana and Chelsea Wolfe combine on a dynamic LP that that terrifies, haunts and inspires all at once, a key element of why THE HYENA KILL continue to sound exciting and alive.

With the release of A Disconnect the band are positioned to take a journey into unfamiliar territory and are as emotional as they’ve ever sounded. Opening up their inner world of proximity and intimacy THE HYENA KILL’s personal scars are fully on display, ready to drag listeners down into their turmoil and testament to the fact that they kept on going, even when it started to hurt. This is an album to truly sink into and once you attune to its escapism and caustic brutality, everything about it is wondrous.

1.       Septic

2.       Passive Diconnect

3.       Cauterised

4.       Witness

5.       Close Enough

6.       Thin

7.       Bleached

8.       Glass Scene

9.       Incision

10.   Mire

The Hyena Kill:
Steven Dobb - guitar / vox
Sam Jones - guitar / synth
Lorna Blundell - drums
Charlie Seisay - bass

Cello on Thin by Maggie Lister

Recorded and mixed by Andy Hawkins at The Nave studios, Leeds

Mastered by Dave Draper
Artwork by Ben Tallon

All songs written and performed by The Hyena Kill