Biography

The long awaited debut LP "The Sounds of Hell" shows Honest Crooks maturing to their full potential. Owen at New Noise Magazine writes about the record "So then, what exactly does hell sound like? Well, according to Honest Crooks, it’s a ferocious and volatile mix of death metal technicality slamming headfirst into the seismic grooves of beatdown hardcore. Take the record’s lead single, last year’s “Serpent of Old,” which slithers around Calum Johnstone’s buzzsaw riffage and a pummelling rhythm section before dropping into a cavernous, drop-tuned stomp section that should be tried, convicted, and summarily executed for crimes against involuntary headbanging. And yet, despite what this frenetic fusion of subgenres might initially suggest—inhuman blast beats, porcine gutturals, and 480p breakdown compilation videos, for instance—Myspace deathcore this is not. Spending the last few years on the national circuit with world-class heavy hitters like Harms Way, Xibalba, and Sydney’s very own HM-2 enthusiasts Justice For The Damned, has made Honest Crooks adept at walking that fine line between death metal’s inherent busyness and hardcore’s patented simplicity. The end result is a tight and succinct record packed full of intricate riffs, caustic vocals, and punchy pit-starters without the need for fluff or dead weight." The Sounds of Hell is available for purchase via EVP Recordings and streaming wherever you listen to music.