Naut – Hunt
Naut – Hunt
Season Of Mist
Release Date: 24/02/23
Running Time: 38:24
Review by Dark Juan
10/10
It is well known that Dark Juan is a Sad Old Goff ™ and is frequently to be found rattling around in the nether reaches of his musical archive looking for the bootleg copies of ‘Wide Receiver’ and ‘Jolene’ by the Sisters Of Mercy he knows are in there, because he recollects buying them from some dodgy fanzine or other many moons ago. Although I might have been wasted on any number of substances back then and it could be what is left of my memory playing tricks on me. Also, many moons ago, your favourite Hellpriest and sex symbol for the half-blind and wholly drunk wrote for another online zine and had the conspicuous delight of reviewing Bristolian Post-Punkers Naut.
Ah, Bristol. A fine city indeed. Where I saw Ghost for the first time in the company of three quarters of Doomcrow (being the band I molested the guitar in when I lived in Wales) and the main place in Britain you can see the bridge leading to the wilderness where there be dragons. Cymru am byth, even though I am not Welsh. I left part of my heart there. I recollect giving the band a high score for their modern take on classic Gothic Rock and this time I will leave out all the descriptions of a skinny, pale youth with slicked back black hair and a tie-dyed long tailed shirt and leather strides trying somewhat desperately to make the ethereal wisps of girls with outrageous coiffures in The Banshee back in Manchester notice him…
Such were my teenage years. There is a point to this preamble and that is that Naut unashamedly take inspiration from classic Goth Rock. Now Dark Juan is somewhat older and considerably more grizzled and would eschew leather trousers as deeply uncomfortable when doing the silly Goth hands dance whilst fading in and out of view because of the fug of clove cigarettes suffusing a small room with conspicuous overamplification, he is able to look beyond the dark wonders of those halcyon times and hopefully give you an unbiased and honest review of the disc currently spinning on the Platter of Splatter.
“Hunt” is Naut’s debut full length release and it is one Dark Juan has been waiting for the correct moment to savour, being as I was such a fan of “Hit The Lights”, Naut’s debut recording. The influences are as you might expect on a Goth / Post-Punk record – The Sisters Of Mercy, The Jesus And Mary Chain, Fields Of The Nephilim and Siouxsie And The Banshees being the obvious ones. The Sisters are a prevalent influence right down to the drum machine that Naut employ after parting company with their drummer. ‘Damocles’ is a perfect melding of the sonorousness of the baritone of Gavin Laubscher and the sweeping majesty of a Sisters composition, yet with rather more muscularity than Eldritch’s mob. ‘8 In 3’ is a much Punkier affair, reminding this correspondent of the likes of The Damned in their more Goffik moments (see “Grave Disorder”), but still with that sinuous quality, that dangerous sexiness, that predatory yet fragile emotion that embodies proper Gothic Rock. The music is very percussion driven, like a throbbing diesel engine pushing a matt black, yet stained with rust, warship through the waves near a foreign, enemy shore on a mission of espionage. The power of Naut’s music is not derived from out and out aggression. It is derived from tight and focused emotional chi, delivered precisely on a single part of your body, calculated to break you down piece by piece, starting with stealing your heart…
The guitar work is masterful on this album, going from softly chiming notes to coarse and aggressive riffing with ease and fluidity but always retaining an extremely emotional quality, like when you’re both angry and desperately sad at the same time and you’re crying great snotty tears while strangling someone for what they have done to you. ‘Unity Of Opposites’ encapsulates this feeling exactly, the chorus being an impassioned, almost shouted refrain of “Blood on your hands!” repeated, while the synths of Laura Taylor wail and whoosh in typically ethereal fashion around the words.
Mention of the work of the bass player, Andi Effe, must also be made. He, and Naut as a whole, understand the central importance of the bass guitar in Goth Rock. It is a growling, pack-leading predator searching for prey to sink its unfeasibly large fangs into – bass and drums are the foundations of this music and Naut execute it fucking perfectly.
Even though Naut sound absolutely classic in their music, there is something about it that drags all the old, good stuff kicking and screaming into the light of the 21st Century. It is timeless music, played with the kind of heartbroken passion that Goth Metal misses out on while the singers are exploring the upper reaches of their operatic vocal ranges. Naut is dirty, cellar and gutter dwelling vampirism, all faded grandeur and torn, yet fine raiment and dust-stained marble white skin coming to sink famished fangs into the throats of the beautiful people of a brightly lit modern city and it is, to be frank, fucking brilliant music.
The Patented Dark Juan Blood Splat Rating System’s heart is racing, and it has turned all the lights off, lit an incense stick and is seated, transfixed in the dark as it listens to Naut. Way back when I reviewed their debut EP, I deducted marks for it not being Metal. Not this time. “Hunt” is as powerful as a Metal record, just not by sheer amplification or distortion or speed. Heartbreak and sorrow leading to tear-stained violence are what make this record special and it is being awarded a full 10/10 because it is so awesome. I don’t even care that it isn’t Metal. It’s close enough kin to count and I am prepared to fight each and every fucking one of you about it. We have a contender for record of the year and its only fucking February.
TRACKLISTING:
01. Dissent
02. All the Days
03. Gold & Death
04. Damocles
05. 8 in 3
06. Unity of Opposites
07. Nightfall
08. Watchers
LINE-UP:
Gavin Laubscher – Vox, Drum Programming, Songwriting
Jack Welch – Guitars, Percussion, Songwriting
Laura Taylor – Keys, Synths
Andi Effe – Bass Guitar
LINKS:
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Dark Juan and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
