Posts Tagged ‘Mad Oak Studios’

Album of the day: Freedom Hawk – Holding On

Posted on Saturday, September 17th, 2011

Lovingly pinched from The Obelisk: Virginian four-piece Freedom Hawk began to carve their name on the American riffy consciousness with 2009’s self-titled full-length, released by MeteorCity. That album earned generally favorable comparisons to Fu Manchu (from me as well), and on the follow-up, Holding On, the double-guitar unit maintain that smoothly-grooved sensibility, adding to it more memorable songwriting and a vocal approach from guitarist T.R. Morton that inherently reminds of Ozzy Osbourne’s early solo work in both cadence and tone.

On first listen, that’s going to be what most stands out about Holding On. The production of Vince Burke (Beaten Back to Pure), who also helmed the self-titled, and the mix of Small Stone’s house engineer Benny Grotto of Mad Oak Studios push Morton’s vocals to the fore, and whether it’s ‘Faded’ bringing to mind Diary of a Madman with its backing track later on the album or the earlier ‘Living for Days’ copping a feel off  Bark at the Moon, Freedom Hawk have a clarity of purpose in their use of the Ozzy influence that’s hard to ignore.

It’s a twist on, “Well, if it was good enough for Sabbath” , and to Morton’s credit, he’s able to pull off the style better than anyone I’ve heard in the genre since Sheavy’s Steve Hennessey, and able to do it while also busting out a slew of quality riffs on which Holding On’s 13 tracks are based.

Continue reading: The Obelisk » Blog Archive » Freedom Hawk, Holding On: Living for the Magic Lady.
Courtesy of JJ Koczan / The Obelisk

Tags: Album of the day, Benny Grotto, Freedom Hawk, Holding On, Mad Oak Studios, small stone records, Stonerrock, T.R. Morton, Vince Burke
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