Death Hawks - What do you think?

I recently got into a band from Finland called Death Hawks. 

What I would like to ask all you progressive experts out there is, where do these guys fit?  Do they fit in with prog archives? What did you think of their new songs such as scent of life? Are they going in the right direction? 

They have 3 studio albums and a fourth to be released this June. 

Their first album ‘Death & Decay’ was released 2012 and this early incarnation pretty much kept to a bluesy psychedelic rocky edge with hints of influences from T-Rex, Iron Butterfly and Uriah Heep, but also a slight hint of what direction they were to develop musically in the coming years. Proggers may like ‘Blue Void’ and ‘Priest’s March’ and perhaps ‘The Peace Maker’.  

 Their 2013 second self titled album ‘Death Hawks’ was similar but a much more interesting development. Some great progesque track picks here such as ‘Blind Daughter of Death’ and the amazing ‘Black Acid’. There were now more parts to the story but still hard to put a finger on where in progressive rock these guys fit. There was certainly Crossover Prog here at times and even some electronic and psychedelic/space rock.

Still the band seemed to need to develop and so they did.

Their 2015 third album release ‘Sun Future Moon’ was a much more rounded and better produced album overall. More influences came into play such as floyd and some trance and electronic influences and more space rock. Some interesting tracks here such as ‘Dream Machine’ and the brilliant ‘Behind Thyme’

What is beautiful about the Death Hawks is that they probably do want to fit into a category but don’t quite fit into any, well not for long anyway. They certainly have crossed over a couple of music genres and possibly to the chagrin of many progressive rock stalwarts, have brought glam, pop and techno into the prog world.

 Their newest album Psychic Harmony, due to be released June 7, promises to increase that very influence and do just that. It appears they really are focusing on glam and pop with a progressive edge. They have released a few tracks as teasers so far and all are actually quite good. I especially liked ‘Scent of Life’ which gave me goosebumps.

 What I really like about this band is that they are pushing buttons and making music exciting and indulgent again. I think it is really great to blur the lines and to make someone listen to music they perhaps would never have dreamed they would be listening to.

What do you think of this band?  

In terms of being most applicable to our categories, it's Psych with Crossover (pop) elements. Listening to the album Sun Future Moon, one can hear some Krautrock influence in there. https://deathhawks.bandcamp.com/album/sun-future-moon

I like that "The Peace Maker" track you posted a lot. Overall from these samples it doesn't strike me as right for Prog Archives. Maybe Prog Related in a way, but that category is very difficult to get into and this would lack the historical significance and I don't know if any of the band members have been in bands classified as prog at this site.

Psych or bust, I would say, and from my listening so far, I would posit that this would not be included in PA despite having a relation to various music in PA. Good band, anyway. I also enjoyed A Room With a View, but I really did not like the pop song Re-Run (the video put me off a little more).

I would say no to PA at this time from what I have heard so far. I doubt this would be included in Psych or Crossover, and I wouldn't see it in Prog Related.

One more video - live last week. 

Edited by tigerfeet - May 22 2019 at 21:17

Rivertree, I loved that you replied and appreciate the time all your guys spend on here, but I may not have picked out the best examples of prog related tracks from their history, perhaps. 

Edited by tigerfeet - December 17 2020 at 18:14

I still cant believe no one will re-consider this fine band FOR THE ARCHIVES. 

I like this band..and forgot to post the last time I listened to the tracks posted in this thread...which to be fair is a good while ago.
I agree with both Greg (Logan) and Uwe (Rivertree) though. As much as I dig the style I still mostly hear something a la The Flaming Lips. Something like a meeting between art pop and art rock with a lot delicious psych elements.

Hey I think we all have several bands we feel deserve to be on PA yet somehow keep getting rejected for inclusion. Trust me, even collaborators and reviewers on here stumble over the odd rejection whenever suggesting X of their favourite artists. Hell there are folks here who’ve suggested Toto/The Tubes/Velvet Underground/Tame Impala/Stereolab a number of times to no avail.
Also goes the other way. I personally don’t feel a band like King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard fits in on PA...but they’re featured here because it never was my decision